Think Fast

My daughter was running late this morning. Last night was the first night of her high school play she is in and she was up late. Her excitement and adrenaline were over flowing and I am assuming that falling asleep was no easy task. As my daughter was flying down the hall to the kitchen she called out that she needed money for a class field trip and it was due today. Actually what she said was “Mom, you know that field trip I told you about, well your gonna be mad, but the money is due today!” The “told” part was that she mentioned it at dinner a week ago and had no information to make a decision on.

Now I have made a lot of decisions on the fly and many times regretted it so my instinct was to ask more questions. “Where is the permission slip?” “When is it?” “How will you get there?” Many of her responses were “I don’t know”. Call me crazy, but I really do not want to hand money to someone that does not have all the facts! As I told her that my feeling was that the lack of information made me think it was not going to happen, suddenly she was shoving the information and permission slip under my nose. This information that she gave me made me even less interested in letting her go, that partnered with the fact that she told me “I really don’t want to go, but I don’t want to miss out”.

Here is what the trip entailed; Avery’s American Sign Language class was going to sign the National Anthem at a major league baseball game at our stadium in our downtown area. Here are the pieces I did not like…

·         I was to pay $18.00 dollars for her ticket to the game

·         The game is a night game on a Monday night 

(a school night as my husband pointed out to her)

·         The kids have to drive themselves 

(note: I am certain this would also involve paying to park)

I was not completely on board with the whole thing, but the last item was the stopper. Maybe I am over protective, but I really do not want my daughter navigating the inner city streets at night to go sign the National Anthem and for this honor she pays for her ticket and parking? I totally understand that she does not want to miss out, but I have forced some situations to fit when I was not sure I wanted to be there for the sake of “not missing out” and I can tell you that I usually kicked myself for forcing the issue and wasting my time.

My daughter did not give me a hard time for my decision. I think she knew that my patience was thin after having all of this information shoved at me with very little time for thought or discussion. I also know that with everything else we have going on I am very comfortable not handing her more money. Actually, I did mention she might want to look for a job, more because I am not fond of playing fire engine with my wallet every time she remembers she needs money. As my daughter left this morning she seemed alright with my decision and although I did pause for a moment and wonder if I was doing the right thing, I stood my ground and sent her on her way without my permission or my money.