Our family is being stalked. It all started innocently. There were occasional phone calls and pleasantries exchanged. But now it's starting to get a little weird. This person called our house 12 times in less than 24 hours. Every time the phone rings, we all groan... We know who it is without even looking at the Caller ID. The stalker - Maddie's friend and fourth grade classmate.
Her big brown eyes are beautiful, and her tiny voice on the answering machine - MANY TIMES EVERY DAY - is as sweet as honey. "Hello, this is Maria*. Can Maddie please call me when she gets a chance?" Maddie does call her when she gets a chance; however, that never seems to be fast enough for Maria's taste. Within two minutes of leaving a message, she calls again, and again, and again.
We've tried various approaches. We've asked Maddie to speak to her about it at school, which she assures us she has done. "Maria, you only need to call me once. If we're not home, or I can't talk right then, I'll call you back later." "Ok," she says - and calls eight times, starting two seconds after she gets home from school where, I might add, she and Maddie have spent the entire day together. We've tried ignoring the phone, even turning off the ringer. But the answering machine beeping and clicking on and off repeatedly while we're having dinner isn't pleasant either. I'm sure the "experts" would advise us to take the assertive approach. When she calls again, just answer the phone and tell her politely that Maddie can't talk right then and we will have Maddie call her. After all, it's our house, our phone, our time, and our child. Right? Well, guess what? We tried that! It didn't work either.
Call me a weakling, a coward, a wimpy parent, but... we have adopted a new approach. Maria comes to our house. As a matter of fact, she spent the entire weekend here. The irony of this whole thing is that she's very meek and well mannered. So, when she's here, I don't even notice there's an extra child in the house. I know, I know... It's not a viable long-term alternative. But until I can think of something else, I'm embracing the age-old Looney Tunes philosophy: "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em!" Hey! It's all for the sake of the cause: peace and quiet.
*Names have been changed to protect the obsessive.
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2 comments:
I can relate! Her name was Hillary, and this was in the days before answering machines. We just endured and had MANY, MANY weekends with her. When the "stalking" ended, and she and my daughter went separate ways I found myself really missing her! You are a wonderful, talented writer!
Mom i love the blog i really do. don't let anyone tell you that it is not good because it really is but my friends are not quit that bad. love you VERY much. you're daughter Maddie
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