Oh my word, billytea. You'd be like the Disneyland of step-fathers. Whoa. That was over-stepping. Must have been some Wally fic I'd been reading.

Cindy, it makes me sad that Scholastic has gone downhill. I remember them very fondly. I think my parents were pretty adamant about spending any amount so soon after Christmas. I think the smallest gesture is a good lesson about self control and financial management, even at Miss J's age.

I think they still have plenty of good, but the garbage to good ratio (at least for the elementary aged kids) seems less favorable. I don't know what to do about Julia. I'm still chewing on it.

Cindy, is there some chore around the house that she could do to earn the money for the book?

Oh, ChiKat. You maybe just gave me an out. Bless you. I'm sure I could come up with something. She's been guilting me, because the last time Ben bought, I did give him some of the money (but it was better timed) and I've been trying to balance out sibling fairness with the money less.

That was supposed to say "money lesson". Pardon me, my slip is showing.

Oh my word, billytea. You'd be like the Disneyland of step-fathers. Whoa. That was over-stepping. Must have been some Wally fic I'd been reading.

Hee. Disney stepmothers never turn out well, I remember that. Not sure about the stepfathers. Or maybe I'm thinking of Virginia Andrews.

I like ChiKat's idea, Cindy. Have her work for it, somehow.

Peeking in after days and days away...

Vibing hard for Cass -- all kinds of peace~ma for you and your grandmother.

Also sending ~ma to Nora and Maidengurl and vw.

And Teppy -- WTF?! I keep rereading your post expecting it to make some sort of sense, but that's not happening. Your poor grandfather.

Cindy, it makes me sad that Scholastic has gone downhill. I remember them very fondly.

It's so true -- it always seems to me that there are more branded books than anything else. I used to think that letting them read anything was better than them not reading at all, too, but the thing about those Hello Kitty and cartoon-inspired books is that they're *awful*. Which doesn't seem like it will lead to a greater love of reading, you know?

Address (will be deleted shortly).

Got it. I was expecting you to email it, actually, but this works.

Steph, that's just craziness! I hope things go well when you visit tonight.

Thanks for all the kind words today, everyone. I really needed them. I'm feeling better, fed and ready to go to bed. Hopefully tomorrow will be better.

Teppy, I'm still boggled by your story. Absolutely boggled.

Also, I just want to say that vw is a fun, kind, and wonderful person, and I really, really hope to have her as a houseguest again, because that would be cool.