And let this be a lesson for you!

Court and teens. Hmmm...seems like a lethal combination, doesn't it? Well yesterday was worth more than I could ever imagine. When sat in the courtroom along with the two teens that we served and their parents (and grandparents...long story). The judge had read thru our case prior and had enough sense to have a mediator there. When our case was called he gave us 2 choices; 1) to have both sides meet with a mediator and try to work this out, or 2) to grant the restraining orders and have children in all three families with criminal records. Of course we all opted for the mediator which is what the grandmother of one of the boys and I tried to work out initially. I jut love this woman...Katie. She is a retired San Fran City Sch. District Spec. Ed teacher. I've known her for many years.

Anyway, we all met with the mediator in a room off the court room. Tony, the boy who attacked my son, sat with his head down the entire time. The look on his face was so pained. I've known him since he was a little boy and I just couldn't believe it was coming down to this. The other boy we served doesn't have too much upstairs, and you know that saying that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree? You got it! His dad was CLUELESS!!!!!

To make a very long story short, it settled nicely. Tony admitted that he was listening to what other people were saying and that he never confronted my son about the "rumors" he was hearing. And, unfortunately, high school is just vicious nowadays. Teens have a vested interest in starting rumors and watching fights. They all agreed to be done with this. They can talk to each other but they cannot say anything negative. They can not call cell phones and leave derogatory messages or use MySpace as a place to spread falsities. And they must respect each others space. If the 2 defendants break this contract, we have the right to press charges. I never want it to boil down to that. I just wanted them all to learn a valuable lesson. I think they all did, however, time will tell.

So in my delirium, this is what I made yesterday. The mermaid below is for Christine.

The French piece is for Linda. I hope they like them!