Monday, March 10, 2008

The Good, the Bad, the Worse, the Humiliating

The Good:

D’s evaluation on Friday went reasonably well. He did not run out screaming or pitch a fit, and we were officially invited for a visit to The School, to be scheduled for sometime after their spring break, which is next week.

The Bad:

The woman who did our eval spent a lot of time asking me about my other options, and I don’t think she appreciated my answer (vodka and a sharp knife), which makes me feel less optimistic than I want to be.

The Worse:

I totaled up our debts over the weekend. We owe $27,000 to various credit card companies. This comes ENTIRELY from paying for therapy via 0% balance transfer offers and then rolling them from one card to the next. I can actually match it up, bill for bill. And remember when my parents said they were going to help? Yeah, that’s the last time I heard about it, too. They did mention the other day that they finally bit the bullet and called their broker to sell some bonds to pay their tax bill, but they didn’t mention anything about cutting us a check. Maybe they changed their minds. I don’t know. I guess, if it comes, it comes, and if it doesn’t, I’ll rent Baby J. out for parties or something.

The Humiliating:

I went back to the business manager at the school my children currently attend. “Do you have a minute?” I asked him. “Oh, sure,” he said, and turned around to face me instead of his computer.

“So you said I could come and see you if I needed more aid for this year,” I said, whereupon he got up and closed his office door, bless his heart. Then I kept it together reasonably well as I laid out the numbers for him. And he came through for me, and he was really nice about it, which kind of makes me feel worse. Like, if he were mean, I could go home and feel all justified about lowering my payment. But he was so understanding that I just feel like I have failed to properly support my family.

So as not to depress you all entirely, I will end on a relatively good note: I contacted the Small Business Administration today. They offer free counseling/coaching services to small business owners. Maybe they can help me take my business (or at least my income) to the next level.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm glad for the good. I hope the bad isn't as bad as you think; I hope your parents follow through to help out with the worse; and I'm sorry you think the last one was humiliating but it doesn't sound that way at all to me. Kudos to you for being willing and able to ask for and accept help when you need it. And best of luck with the SBA. Here's hoping for more "good" to come.

LilSeed said...

I wholeheartedly agree with Ella. Don't feel humiliated at all! I'm glad you have some support from the school and they can work with you to help out.

Wishing you, D. and the whole family more and more good in the days to come.

moplans said...

I really think if people offer to help that they should come through. I think you should remind your parents they offered.
I also think it is great the school came through for you. I know it is hard to ask for and receive help, but really people like to be able to help.