So Much Drama

A few months ago we got new neighbors. Brandon and Caitlin were thrilled! We'd lived on our street for a year and a half, and were the only family with young kids. The new boy was also in kindergarten, and only a week older than Brandon. They played well together. I got along well with the stay-at-home dad. Things weren't perfect. I had some issues with the things the child did and the fact his dad didn't discipline, but for the most part he's a good kid.

That was a few months ago. Today I found out our neighbor dad got arrested last Tuesday.

I just thought he was out of town.

I don't really know what's going on over there. Another neighbor, who lives across the street, thought we might want to know what was going on. Why we hadn't seen our neighbor for several days. She saw it all from her house when it happened. I had seen the sheriff there last Saturday, twice, but Brian's cousin was over, so we never did find out what was going on. Then they had family in town, so I didn't want to intrude. But domestic violence? Child abuse? Third degree assault? I found his bookings and accusations on the police blotter online. Seriously, folks, what is going on????

I have spent the latter half of the day wondering about my lack of judgement. Am I a complete idiot? I mean, I was hanging out over at this house and letting my kids play with his kid. They were having fun. The boy was by no means well supervised, and it showed. He told me about getting bit by a shark, and often took Brandon and Caitlin on ghost and skeleton hunting expeditions around the house. Brandon was no longer allowed to watch anything on their computer, since "Jaws" was the movie choice most of the time, and Brandon had started to have nightmares! But this boy was, and still is, a very nice kid. And he and Brandon played well together. But I still wonder - am I an idiot? I didn't see or hear anything that would have led me to believe all this could happen.

I'm still so confused. I am a good mother. A mother who watches her kids most of the time (because it's impossible to keep an eye on them all the time). I liked being at their house. It gave me something to do. It can be incredibly boring staying home with kids, even when you're busy all the time. My neighbor had a friend who was over all the time. Sometimes with one of her three kids. Sometimes without. I like here - she seems nice -but whenever she's was over there was a lot of alcohol involved whenever she was over, and she had enough drama of her own to fill an amphitheatre! I planned activities so the kids and I would only be over a couple times a week. But my kids don't like to be gone every day, and I couldn't always plan around the rain, so we'd still all be inside together. Or over at their place. Together.

If I ever get this straight, I'll let you know. It's all a jumbled heap in my brain! The drama in that family has been horrible for the last month, and I don't want any part of it. I'm the newbie in the mom/dad/best friend drama, and while I miss my new acquaintance, I'd rather stay that way. Sometimes a lack of knowledge in a situation enables me to be non-judgemental. And that's a rare state for me - one I need to cultivate more.

Thanks for letting me vent!