JUSTIFIED?

My youngest son has three children with two different moms. The oldest is the "usual granddaughter" and the other two are a three year old little boy and a two year old little girl. All three are sweet and adorable in my eyes.

I have a good relationship with "usual granddaughter's" mom. The mom of the other two.....not so good. He is still with her, for whatever reasons.

Last Friday "she" called and asked me to watch the two. I said "okay" for two or three hours because I had other things to do later. She said that would be great and she would bring them over. I made it clear that I could not keep them overnight this time. I am always hesitant to take them because she often doesn't tell my son that they are supposed to pick them up at a certain time and then I end up keeping them overnight because I can never locate them. Now, mind you I'm not making excuses for my son. He is not perfect either.

Back to Friday. She dropped them off at 3PM and said that she would be back by 5, 6 at the latest! She had a friend with her, so I had a witness this time! And she left her cell number this time! At 7 PM, I started trying to reach her. She didn't answer her phone. At 7:30 I tried again and got the message that the number was unavailable. At 8 PM, I dug out some car seats and loaded the little ones in the car to drive to the apartment where they live. They weren't there. I proceeded to drive to her friends apartment and she also wasn't there.

I don't mean to complain, but by this time I am quite angry. My blood pressure was probably out of sight, since earlier in the week when I was at the Drs. it was 197/98. Yes, I am on meds for it. To give you some idea of where I am coming from; three years ago I had quadruple bypass surgery after fighting CAD for 10 years and having had 3 heart attacks. I don't t tell people this for sympathy. Just stating the facts.

As the children and I were leaving, the friend showed up and told me that mom and dad were in the parking lot outside. We ran out and were able to catch them. I asked what happened and why she wasn't there on time to pick them up and why she didn't answer her phone or call me and give me an explanation. Her answer? "My phone battery was dead". It's always something with her. I said rather snidely that is why I don't watch these two as often as they would like me too. My son apologized and said thank you. She said nothing. I got in my car and left.

Fast forward to Sunday night about 6:30 PM. My son calls and asks me if I can watch the kids Monday from 7:30 AM to 4:30 PM. He has to work and she is supposed to be attending some class. I can only think it is some kind of class for the welfare benefits she receives, but I don't know that for sure. Anyway, I tell him that I have other plans already and remind him of how upset I was by the fiasco Friday night. He thanks me anyway and hangs up to try and line up a different sitter.

Now it's Tuesday and he stopped over to say "hi". He is obviously upset. I ask what is wrong and he tells me that she is angry and making things miserable for him since I wouldn't watch the kids on Monday. He states that he totally understands where I am coming from and she is just being "nasty about it."

Well, he is gone now and here I sit feeling guilty! And I know that I shouldn't feel this way. She has brought this on herself by not picking them up in the past when she said she would. Should I just forget about the past and continue to be used or do I stand up and say "ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!" ?