(no subject)

[the_rck]

Some days, my mother is very irritating.

Last Thursday, I called her to share some Delia news, and she informed me that she'd be leaving the next day to drive up to visit. She'd *meant* to tell me but hadn't quite gotten to it yet. Her plan was to drive to Atlanta first to visit my sister and her family and then to drive up to Michigan from there. She said she'd let me know when to expect her.

She just called to say that she's passing Toledo. She'll be here in less than an hour. ::bangs head::

Delia and I are about to head out for a playdate, one I'd have rescheduled if I'd had more notice but that I'm not inclined to reschedule now. Delia's been looking forward to seeing her friend, and we need to return some things to the library.

I'll just have to call the other mother to see if she's willing to take Delia without me coming along. I think she will be. If she'd rather not, though, I'll leave my mother to let herself in.

Why on earth didn't she call me yesterday? It's not like she wouldn't know that she'd be arriving today.

Comments

[missysedai.livejournal.com]

I...have no words. Good luck with everything!

[the_rck]

Thanks. I was lucky enough that the other mother was willing to take Delia without me coming along. I'm quite grateful to her.

We went from a tentative three day window (starting with today) to a less than two hour window.

[sterbenblumen.livejournal.com]

That sounds like my mom, only I have no kid to schedule myself around. I don’t live out of state from parents but far enough away that calling should be done. And she does, right when she’s about to knock on my door.

[the_rck]

It's a two day drive for my mother to get here from my sister's house. I just have trouble believing that she didn't have a moment to call. I think it just never occurred to her. After all, it's not like I might have been busy or anything...

[evalerie.livejournal.com]

Wow. I generally think of parents as being obsessive about planning ahead for visits and stuff like that. (My mom is.) That's awfully audacious to just show up with no notice and expect you to be ready to host her. Especially when, like you said, she has to have known ahead of time when she'd be arriving. You have my sympathies.

[the_rck]

Not my parents.

There's a rather appalling incident from my high school years-- the summer before senior year, it must have been. I was on the opposite side of the state visiting my grandparents and was supposed to take the train home on a particular day so that I could be at my part time job the next day. It was a half hour drive from the train station to home, so I couldn't just walk from the train station.

When we called to try to coordinate schedules, they weren't home. My grandparents wouldn't let me get on the train without being sure that someone would meet me when I got off, so I ended up having to call a friend and have her father pick me up. I spent the night with her family because her parents didn't want me home alone when we still had no idea where my parents were.

Come to find out, they'd taken a trip to Chicago. They just figured that I'd manage somehow, probably by catching a bus from Kalamazoo. (The next year, I checked the schedules. There's one bus a day going that way, and it leaves the station *before* the first train is scheduled to get in. Even if I'd thought of the bus, it wouldn't have worked, and my parents hadn't even bothered to confirm that it was possible.)

They never apologized or otherwise acknowledged that maybe they should have done something else.

That means that I kind of knew that there was a chance she'd show up with no warning. I just didn't want to schedule my week based on the possibility that she'd turn up early. Well, I might have if it were just me because I have plenty to keep me busy without going out, but Delia deserves better.

[evalerie.livejournal.com]

Gads, that is completely outrageous!!!!!!!!

[jss]

I suspect you know my reaction to this if someone tried it on me, but for the record: "I'm sorry you gave me so little notice, but I'm taking Delia on a play date she's been looking forward to. We'll be home around ${time} so I'm sure you can find some way to occupy yourself until then. See you then!"

Failure to plan on her part should not mean rescheduling your life on your part. She didn't bother to give more than 2 hours notice, it should be her problem, not yours.

And yes, I'd do the above to my own parents if they were to do something similar.

[the_rck]

To be utterly fair, she told me last week that she'd be coming to visit and that she'd arrive some time in the middle of this week. That doesn't, IMO, constitute full notice, but it means that I wasn't utterly blindsided. I just expected, contrary to forty years of experience with her, that she'd tell me the day before she arrive.

I did actually tell her that we'd be out and that I'd leave the front door unlocked. I just hesitated to say that in the main entry because I didn't want to announce publicly that I was going to do so. I ended up staying home while Delia went out with the other mother (who informed me that she hadn't been expecting me to come along anyway).

[nakki-no-miko.livejournal.com]

I so feel your pain. This sounds like something *my* mom would pull. :-( ::HUGS::