Adventures in Kellyland

What a crazy couple of days we have had! Todd's bike got stolen in the middle of the day, but a few hours later he saw a kid ride right past our house on it - so he chased him. We were a little surprised by how young the perp was (he looked to be 12 at the most) and Todd was moved to have compassion on him. He talked the kid into giving the bike back and gave him a ride back to our house - he was going to take the kid to the Thrifty Shopper to buy him a bike of his own. But I was concerned that we could end up in trouble if we stuck this kid in our van and took him to Liverpool unbenownst to his parents. So I told Todd to call the parents. Talk of parents made the kid scared and he took off running. That made me mad, so I ran after him - for over a mile. Every so often he would stop and hide then I would find him, and he would sit there and wait till I was close before he started to run again. Twice I had given up and turned around to go home when he stood out in plain sight and yelled to me that I couldn't get him. All said and done, I talked to the cops 5 times and we never found the kid, but Todd got his bike back.

There was some discussion when I got home, because Todd felt like I was second-guessing his approach (he thought I was just mad and wanted the kid to be in trouble) but I explained that I was concerned about staying "above reproach" and the cop agreed that Todd could have gotten in a lot of trouble in a situation like that. But Todd (and I) had been hoping to give this kid some sort of positive interaction with adults who care, and the kid just couldn't accept that.

Today I was still thinking a lot about that kid and what Todd and I learned about communicating with (and trusting) each other. I went to the credit union to make our van payment and as I was leaving, I wrecked our van. I was turning left when a pickup truck appeared out of nowhere coming straight at me. I know the guy was going fast, but I must have just not seen him coming... The kids were terrified, but they are all okay, as am I (but my back is hurting a little). This makes two accidents in as many months for us. I didn't get ticketed, and neither did Todd, but we have a suspicious feeling that our insurance rates will skyrocket soon.

And now it 6:30 and I am frustrated with Jacob who is frustrated with math. I know that he can't remember how to borrow because he doesn't process stress well, but somehow that doesn't make it any less stressful for me. I wanted to drop it, but I'm always afraid that he will figure out he can act like he doesn't know anything to get out of doing his work. I had him take a little break and then come back to it (for the 3rd time!!!) and hopefully he will get it right this time.