Thursday, March 17, 2005

Watching Mom Learn The Hard Way

Sometimes when I get going too fast and bump into things Mom will say, "Ben, slow down. You don't have to be in such a hurry." Well, recently I've learned that Mom needs to take her own advice and think things through very carefully.

First, about that champagne. Mom didn't take the time to think through listing it with a worldwide shipping option. After selling it to someone in England, boxing it up, and filling out a customs form, she learned that it is illegal to ship alcohol internationally from the U.S. Yeah.... So she had to refund the money. And like I heard her tell Dad, "How embarrassing...." And Dad thought it was better than getting in trouble with the law.

Second, we "won" a free 8 X 10 portrait at JCPenney. Mom entered a drawing when I went in to get some photos taken last month for my fan club. So Mom decided it was too soon just to get more Ben pictures. She and Dad decided to be in the picture with me. (It was fun to have them and I really liked the pretty lady who took the pictures.) So after the picture, Mom finds out that they charged a sitting fee. That our FREE picture was actually $29.97 + tax. Then it seemed pointless to only get one, so with Dad's relunctant permission she ordered a bunch more and spent a lot of money that she could have used on toys for me. Like Dad said, we bought into the scam. "Ben, nothing in this life is really ever free."

Anyway, Mom told me today that she hopes I will be the one learning all the lessons for a while.

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