Jojo is friends with a 4th grade boy (who also happens to be a distant cousin on Jason's side of the family), he comes over quite a bit. The first time he came over, he paced our front sidewalk for 15 minutes before he came to ring the bell. This had Roger laughing because he went through that with THREE girls. I don't mind her having this boy over and they know the rules. They are not allowed in her bedroom, shoes must come off when you come in the house, ask if you need anything, and play nicely with Jakey. I've never had a problem with him and he's pretty helpful on most occasions. He came over the other day and told us that some boys were bullying him and he wanted to know if we could help. Jason didn't ask him many questions before he went to the corner and talked to the "bullies". I start asking him questions about these "bullies", "Do they go to your school?" "One does, the other goes to an academy." he says. "Are they older than you?" I ask. He tells me that they are both 11 and he's only 9, one is his brother. WHAT?! ONE IS YOUR BROTHER?! Jason's jaw hit the floor and I say "Well, that's on battle you are going to have to handle on your own, you have to live with him." That was a pretty good chuckle for the day.
Fast forward to last night. Thursday is the day my youngest brother comes over for dinner. It's just a fun time for us all to sit back, eat some good food, and catch up with what's going on. Jojo brought home a flyer for a fundraiser night at Marco's, so we decided not to cook anything, we'd just support the school. This friend of Jojo's was over as soon as school got out, so I let them play outside til the pizza got here. After the pizza cooled off for a bit, I told Jojo and Jakey to come in and eat and I told Jojo's friend, that we'd see him later if he wanted to come back after we ate. He decides to hide in the garage until we are done!!!! I wasn't being rude by not offering him dinner, he's not my kid. Dinner is family time at our house. It's not up to me to feed the neighborhood kids. I'd have to take on 10 more kids to watch to be able to do that!
So tell me what you think...Was I wrong for not offering him dinner?
7 comments:
I dont think it was wrong at all. You are right, dinner time is for family time. You feed kids all day, so not feeding the little boy was your decision and I would not feel bad about it at all.
You weren't wrong! That is how my family always was until our schedules didn't allow that anymore. We would always try to invite people over and they would always send them home too!
If the kids have a friend over during dinner, that friend will be offered to eat with us. If that friend was told to leave while we eat and come back later (because we are not running a soup kitchen),Then that friend should not have been in our garage. I want our home to be a place that all feel welcome and want to be here (lets us keep tabs on kids and friends). But we cannot sacricfice discipline in the process. If a child was told to do something, they damn well better listen. We must find the perfect balance of strict and carefree to create an environment that the kids can be here and have alot of fun, as long as they follow the rules and do what is right. I'm not real sure how I got here from dinner, but there you have it!
wow, Jason said it how it should have been said. You go Jason :)
I don't think you were wrong. First of all, that little kid should have known to go home, not wait in your garage. Second, I would never just feed another child dinner without talking to their parents. What if his parents had a meal planned and you went ahead and fed him pizza? What if he wasn't allowed to have pizza or was allergic in some way to it? You never know these days.
I completely agree. When Abby has friends over, I let them and the parents know how long Abby can play before we eat dinner. If we didn't set rules, we'd be feeding the neighborhood every night.
I agree. He wasn't invited over to play and eat dinner. That is a different story. And he didn't have permission to be over for dinner. Maybe his parents didn't care where he was or how long he would be gone. I dealt with that while you guys were growing up. Some parents just don't care and it is not your responsibility. He should not have hid in the garage. What if he got into something or got hurt.....
Ain't it fun?
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