There are not that many things that make me come unglued these days, and for that, I am thankful. Coming unglued is not something I enjoy doing – it takes entirely too much energy which could be used more constructively elsewhere, and it usually ends badly. Plus, it sets a bad example and teaches the wrong lesson if overdone.

Well, as I may have mentioned, Prima Donna Daughter has a friend who lives next door who makes me want to sell our house and move. Proximity is the real foundation of this friendship, because as soon as anyone else shows up for either one of them, they’re off with the other person without so much as a “bye”, “see ya later”, or “kiss my behind.” But when no one else is available (and sadly, this is WAY more often than not,) they are like Siamese twins joined at the hip. So this…child…spends a lot of time over here at our house. (UGH!)

PDD has her own computer and she and her…friend…like to play on AOL and Disney. Not usually a problem, except that sometime over the last two weeks (since I was doing maintenance on PDD’s computer) someone scratched the HELL out her flat screen monitor. And by scratched, I mean deep, permanent grooves in a scribble pattern:

I was cleaning all the computer screens this morning when I came across this, and you can bet PDD was yanked out of bed and interrogated as to how this happened.

Tearfully, she claimed that her friend had done it. And woe to the friend, whose timing was impeccable as she knocked on the door at just that moment, hoping PDD would be able to come out and play.

I calmly asked the friend if she had, in fact, done this to PDD’s monitor. She admitted she did. THAT is when I came unglued…more over the cavalier attitude being displayed than the damage itself, though we are talking about the purposeful vandalism of a $250 monitor.

I asked what she used to scratch such deep grooves in the screen and more to the point: WHY she felt the need to scratch such deep grooves in the screen. She just stood there looking at me.

So, after counting to 100 (literally…with her standing there looking at me the whole time) I told her that she was no longer welcome at our house and that she owed me an apology as well as an explanation. I also told her she was responsible for telling her parents what she had done when they eventually realized that she was no longer coming over here and PDD was no longer coming over there.

PDD is in hot water, too, because she knows full well that in our house, you’re responsible for what your friends and guests do and for making sure they follow our rules.

Now to figure out how to get restitution from an 8 yr old…