A Visit from the Boys in Yellow

We have been having quite a week with our oldest Squirrel.  I think she may have been dropped on her head as a baby or maybe fed paint chips.  I caught her in the pool with her Sunday shoes on (leather, mind you) and when I asked her what possessed her to swim in leather shoes, she told me, "Lots of people exercise in the pool with their shoes on."  I informed her those were Aqua Socks and made especially for water...and that leather does not qualify (sigh). 

Then I catch her with a giant pitcher of orange juice, a Mickey Mouse mug filled to the brim, leaning over on her hands and knees outside, lapping the juice like a dog. 

BRAIN DAMAGED.  I worry about this girl. 

The crowning moment was when she threw a hissy fit after being told to make her bed on Saturday.  Granted, she was running on a half night of sleep because I let her stay up late on Friday night, trying to finish her big library book so she could get 32 accelerated reading points for school (evidently, very important) and she was up very early in the morning.  She went off into hysterics, stomped to her room, packed a suitcase with who knows what, stood in the doorway and shouted that she was running away. 

This isn't the first time she has said such...and we usually nonchalantly tell her we sure are sorry to see her go but if she feels she must, she must.  She took off down the street and went around the corner. 

In typical fashion, she was back 10 minutes later cheerfully shouting out a greeting of "I'mmmmm bbbbaaack" (imagine this in sunshine, sing-songy tones). 

15 minutes after that, the doorbell rang and we were greeted by...the McAllen Police Department...in their neon yellow polyester shirts.  We were informed that a neighbor had called the police stating that someone in a red vehicle had tried to get Elisabeth to into his or her car.  SAY WHAT? 

We asked Elisabeth and she denied that anyone in any car said anything to her.  She did finally remember that she saw a red convertible waiting to turn onto the highway from our subdivision but swears up and down that the driver did not say anything to her. 

We were heavily scolded by the police who told us that our children cannot even bike in the neighborhood alone until they are 14 years of age.  He asked us what we would have done if Elisabeth was kidnapped.  At that point, she had ticked me off so much that I had to bite back a retort of "I would say that the kidnapper would be calling us to BEG that we take her back!".  Instead, I sheepishly muttered that we were unaware that the laws were so restrictive on her being able to bike or walk around the block and it wouldn't happen again. 

So we don't really know what happened.  Our guess is that there was no attempted kidnapping but that the neighbor was concerned because Elisabeth was out by the highway with a suitcase.  Whatever the case may be, I now will be doing a lot more biking with the kids until they are old enough to go by themselves.  We are definitely not in Cougarville anymore!