it's beginning to look a lot like christmas.

This latest vaguely patronizing email really sums up exactly why I always try to shop local, unfortunately there is no great locally made e-reader, or any locally made e-reader for that matter.  

Dear Miss Charlie,

We have received your email and very sorry to know that you have not
located the $25 eGift Card which was sent to you as part of the NOOK
MasterCard Promotional Offer.  Please note that we have canceled the
original $25 eGift Card and sent you a replacement eGift Card which you
should receive shortly. 

Sincerely,

Shahida
Customer Service Support
Barnes & Noble



To which I, in a bit of a temper, wrote back. . .

I did receive the 'replacement' card, as for the missing first card, I could not have located it because it was never received, and your tone which clearly implies that I am to blame for this issue is not appreciated.  Having a top rated e-reader does not give your company carte blanche to disregard the concept of customer service.  During the ridiculous process, which has taken over a month and several emails and phone calls to resolve, I have encountered three customer service reps who were shocked that the gift card was meant to be a gift, and couldn't understand why I could not give it after Christmas.  I have spent 20 minutes with a rep who insisted that the card was not supposed to be sent until Jan. 3rd.  He was equally adamant that I had somehow been informed of this during the purchasing process, although he could find not record on his end that those terms had ever been outlined.  I have received several emails implying that my inability to use firewalls or check my spam folder are somehow to blame for the missing card.

At no time did anyone even conceive that my card could have simply slip through the cracks of technology, nor did anyone seem even remotely sorry that this issue had arose.  While I in no way hold anyone I communicated with solely responsible for this issue, I do hold them responsible for the level of customer service they provided.  In this case, it was null.  Please remember, customers are not an inconvenience, we are the reason you have a job, and as your job title indicates that you are a member of customer service support, you should offer some, instead of your condescension.

-Miss Charlie

I should point out that the Nook is an AWESOME e-reader and that the peeps who staff my local Barnes and Noble are infinitely less sucky.

*edit*

Evidently Barnes and Noble was not content with the level of customer service they provided, becasue today I received this email:

Dear Miss Charlie,

Thank you for your inquiry regarding order #280851590.

We reviewed your order and we are pleased to inform you that the $25
eGift Card will be emailed to the account that purchases the device, on
or before December 29, 2011 for the purchase of Nook.

We apologize for the incontinence occurred to you.

We look forward to your next visit.




Which after a good chuckle and few face palms, was answered as follows:

Did you read the part where I said I finally received a card and just ignore it, or am I now getting automated responses?  Regardless, I have a card now, I have printed it and will be giving it as a gift on the 25th, which is when you give gifts, not on or before the 29th.  Do not cancel it, do not send out any new cards, unless you just feel like giving me extra cards as a way of apologizing for your general lack of regard for me as a customer. 

As for incontinence, that has not been an issue during this process, although I have been given a bit of a headache and a bad taste in my mouth.

- Miss Charlie

re-reading your blog can make you realize you actually are growing

It is amazing what can happen in a year.  Which is just about when i wrote this.  Ok, so my crazy detail oriented mind won't let this go without acknowledging that it was actually almost 14 months ago.  Which really ruins the dramatic effect and makes the whole thing far to wordy.

Not the point.  I never stay on point though. . my counselor says I have ADHD, which I'm sure I do, but I'm not really interesting in doing anything about it at this point.  Instead let's revisit my concerns of a year (14 months) ago.

i have a small two bedroom house, which i don't want to leave.  Check you later little house.  You are walls and a roof and no matter how much I like you, there will be a house that fits my family better, another house to make memories of and grow into.

i work so much. Ok, this one still unnerves me some, but we will make it work.  I will get more staff if I can afford it and I will simplify the business as much as I can.

our quality of life would change. We will adapt.  It's true there will be another person to provide for but we will be fine.

baby sitters would be harder to find.  Girl child goes to sleepovers now and gets invited to peoples houses all the time.  She is a six year old social butterfly.  So with some planning we can get a sitter for baby child at the same times, or take baby child with us.  No biggie.

the age difference would be so great between them.  I do fell twinges of sadness for that sometimes, but really, it is outweighed by the joy of sharing the experience with her, and in knowing that each child will go through baby and toddlerhood without having to fight for attention.  Plus girl child is so sweet and loving to baby child, rubs my belly. . talks in a secret language to her/him.  I wouldn't change it at all.

life is so easy now.  Yes.  But a little too empty.

i don't want to go through those kind of changes again. I am still not looking forward to the wear and tear on an already slightly older model body, but when you see the little fuzzy blur of movement that is a sonogram, your heart fills so full that you know it won't matter.

i didn't want sex for almost 2 years after wards but i did it anyway which meant 2 years of awkward sex. Maybe if I am really good I will work out a bit and actually not hate my body.  Maybe postpartum won't be so bad.  Either way we will get through it.  At least I will have something to discuss in therapy.

i am not that patient. No, I am not, but love helps you learn.  Even if I never become the calm unflappable mom of my dreams, I have six years of proof that says a little cranky every so often can still lend itself to raising kind compassionate wonderful human beings.

another dinner to make, bath to get, cold to nurse, teeth to brush, questions to answer, voice to listen to. All of those things sound so much better than they did.  Perspective is a funny thing. 

it took so long and so many people to get baby girl, i don't know if how much my reasons for saying no have to do with not wanting to go through all that again.  the blood work, the indignity, the disappointment.  the being made to feel like less of a woman.  Turns out I was right.  I have little fear, little worry, little anything but a big peaceful feeling that this is right and that it was time for this baby.

Well. . . unless the hormones are running wild, but I don't count those times.

. . . sigh . . .

In case you were wondering how she felt about it all.

Girl child brought me this picture today.  She said I could share it if I wanted.

 

And here is a gratuitous close up of the cuteness, because it is my blog and I am allowed.

Look at those smiling faces.  Oh, and my freckles.  Also, she appears to be naked.  <3

It's ok, I don't like sleeping anyway.

I recently had to send this letter to the principal of girl child's school.  In order to become appropriately angered on my behalf it is important that you know that girl child is 6 and that we chose her school in part becasue it has a very clear underlying philosophy of cherishing and protecting a child innocence.

---

Rachel - 

I do not know if you are aware that Dick told the children two extremely inappropriate ‘ghost’ stories during their cooking time today.  From what we can gather, one involved a plane crash that killed 20 people on the runway.  One was a man in a bowler hat that became a ghost who haunted the airport, looking for his briefcase and scaring people, and even the police could not track him down.  The other was about his roommate who crashed his motorcycle while driving drunk.  He rolled into a ravine and clawed his way back out, only to die by the side of the road.

 

When an educator interacts with a child they have a responsibility to insure that the lessons they are providing are not harmful.  This extends to all support staff who work at the school.  They do not always have to be enlightening, but they should also never be disruptive to the children’s well being.  That said, here is what our child learned at school today.

 

Planes crash and kill people.  That given, it is not safe to fly to grandmas for the holidays.

If you die you might stay on earth, not knowing you have died, and scare living people.

Even an adult might not be able to stop terrifying things from happening.

Death can be gruesome and frightening.

People can drink so much alcohol that they become drunk.

When you are drunk you can die.

People might suffer at their time of death.

 

While we do understand that this time of year often has a spooky element and that part of the fun for many people is scaring each other, that scare factor needs to be age appropriate and handled in a safe and manageable way for each individual.  For an adult who had been given a role of authority over small children to tell the stories that Dick did is unforgivable.

 

If he felt that he could not make it through the season without a few stories, there as a wealth of age appropriate stories that could have been shared.  We assume that he did not clear this ‘lesson’ plan before he carried it out.  We would like to know where his level of accountability is for his interactions with the children.  Who oversees his interactions to see that they follow the very clearly defined teaching methods and philosophies that led parents to choose this school in the first place?

 

We have no idea how long it will take to get our child to a point where she can go to the bathroom in the middle of the night again, or to sleep in her own bed.  Even after that though, she will still remember those lessons, and those are not lessons a grown man had a right to give a six year old.

 

At the very least, we need to know what will be done to insure that these kinds of things will not happen again.  Additionally, we need Dick to apologize to (girl child) and tell her that he made up the stories he told to her class.  She looks up to him and we cannot convince her that he lied. 

 

We will be there in  the morning to discuss this with you and with Dick.  We are sorry to add this to your plate, but hope you can understand why this is such an issue and can help us do what we can to undue some of the damage.

 

-(Mrs and Mr. Charlie)

 There was a host of apologies and shocked faces and promises to make it up to her, but they can't.  The damage is done.  No matter how badly Dick feels he can't fix this.  I have a 6 year old in my bed again who can't go down the hallway at night without a grownup.  I am tired and cranky, and left frustrated becasue nothing but time can ease this for us. 

I do know that she will have these moments, that bad things will seep into her world.  I cannot protect her forever, nor do I really want to.  I think about the wisdom I have gleaned from one to many trips through Finding Nemo, which is actually a scary story in its own right.

Marlin: I promised I’d never let anything happen to him.
Dory: Hmm. That’s a funny thing to promise.
Marlin: What?
Dory: Well, you can’t never let anything happen to him. Then nothing would ever happen to him. Not much fun for little Harpo.

That said, I also know I should be able to send her to a freaking hippie school without worrying that she will be terrified.