A Change of Plans

So today was a little hectic because Dave had his Series 6 exam (which he nailed) and was therefore unable to pick up Ashley from school. We talked about it yesterday and made plans for Ashley to go to SafeKey. (Not her favorite!) We reiterated the plans this morning and everything was set.

Luckily for Ashley, Dave got done far earlier than was expected and he was able to go and get her. He showed up before the bell rang and waited for her to arrive at SafeKey so he could get her before she checked in. Well...she never showed up. No problem. Dave decided to go and check by the tree in their usual waiting spot thinking she had forgotten and was waiting there. No Ashley. Return to SafeKey. No Ashley. By this time, it was getting fairly late and the schoolyard was quickly clearing. Dave begins to panic and heads into the office. They do an all-call for Ashley to no avail. The office calls Ashley's teacher who says that she walked out with her friend, "B." The office calls "B's" mom who says she hasn't seen her daughter yet (she rides the bus), but will call when she gets there. To say the least, Dave is now in full-blown panic mode. (Probably better that he didn't call me.) Dave tells the office that he is going home to get Ashley's cell phone so he can start calling all of her friends. Likewise, the office takes a list of Ashley's friend's names so they can also call.

Driving like a bat-out-of-hell, Dave heads for home, tires squealing around the corner, pulls up to the house to find Ashley feverishly pounding on the door. She had decided there was "a change of plans." Not wanting to go to SafeKey, she and "B" had decided that Ashley would sneak onto "B's" bus and ride home. (The bus also stops outside of our development.) The dynamic duo then hatched a plan to call Morgan's middle-school friend to tell her to call Morgan and tell her Ashley was on the bus headed for home. (Why call Morgan??? Your guess is as good as mine. Oh yeah, Morgan was supposed to call Dave and tell him. Plus, Ashley thought Morgan was home and would let her in and watch her.) Anyways, being slightly ditzy tweeners, here's how this went down: Morgan's friend forgot to call her, so she texted her sometime later. Morgan gets the message: "UR sis is on the bus with B." (Leaving off the part about calling Dad.) Morgan says to herself, "Okay." She figured that must have been the arrangement. Ashley was then stranded on the porch banging on the door for 55 minutes while being terrorized by the neighborhood cats. When Dave saw her standing there, it was a mix of relief and fury!

The end result: Ashley learns that we don't change plans without consulting our parents. She is grounded from school friends for 2 weeks and loses this week's allowance.

How does Ashley feel about this?

"It was worth it. I had fun riding the bus."

Cammie, you thought you were scared before...? PLEASE PRAY FOR US!!!

**Editor's note: I was really worried by this lack of remorse, so I asked Ashley to clarify. She said, "This is how I roll. I do something once, get in trouble for it, and don't do it again." WHEW! At least she knows this shenanigan is not to be repeated! I don't actually think she realized what a big deal this was. I need to go dye my gray hair now!