Not good with creepy

First of all, I'm tired. I'm tired because I'm not sleeping well--mainly because I have the phone by my bed as we wait for the news of my newest neice or nephew (Kevin and Gretchen were due this past week-end!). It is exhausting to wait! I'm jumping for the phone and I'm constantly carrying around my cell phone (highly unusual for me!). I'll let you know how it all turns out. :)

Back to the title of this post: creepy.
I took the kids to Crazy Bounce yesterday. It is an indoor warehouse filled with blow up slide and jumpy things. They love it. I love it. Great fun and great excercise. Plus, on Monday and Wednesday mornings they have "tot time". $7.00 per kid for two hours plus popcorn and a drink. I get in free. It's a deal. We haven't gone since last summer as the kids have school on Monday and Wednesday mornings. They were off yesterday. Woo-Hoo!
A little boy named Zachary "Z" found Garrison and introduced himself. They began playing. This is not uncommon for kids. They seem to find each other and play together. It really isn't a big deal. It was a big deal though for Z's dad. He was delighted that his son had found a friend. He found me and began talking to me. . .at me. . . completly ignoring my very obvoious "do not talk to me anymore" signs. These include my not looking at you, answering in only one work responses, and not asking any follow up questions. It was also obvious to me that Z had some special needs. I love it that Garrison had found an energetic friend to play with, but I didn't like that Z's dad was obsessive about it. My guess is that Z doesn't have a lot of friends at school.
During the snack time in the snack room, guess who came and sat by us? You are right! Z's dad asked Garrison if he liked to talk on the phone. He asked for Garrison's phone number. He asked if Z could call Garrison some time so that they could talk on the phone. (No. Garrison does not talk on the phone with friends.) Z had sat for about two minutes before he ran off to play. Dad asked Garrison (not me of course) if he wanted to come over the their house and play sometime. (no. Perhaps a park in the summer would be better.) He asked for our address (we live in Zeeland). He kept on telling Garrison what a wonderful friend he was and how he could be Z's new and wonderful friend. Garrison left to play and Z's dad continued to try and make small talk with me. He also kept telling me about how wonderful Z was. He finally left the room and I breathed a sigh of relief. I stayed with my other ducks until they were finished.
We had about 10 minutes left and Z wanted to play that silly arcade game where you put in fifty cents and move the little scooper and pick up some candy. Z's dad let them and let Garrison as well. (You know how well this went over with the other ducks as I do not give out fifty cents for such games.) Z's dad continued to tell Z about what a wonderful new friend Garrison was and how they could do so many fun things together. . . ack! I was so at a loss for what to do! Thankfully (I credit this only to the Lord!), the dad came up to me and asked if his wife could call and set up a time for them to get together. I replied "we won't be able to do anything until the summer." He was stunned. I was firm. I don't mind Garrison playing with Zachary at all. They did get along great. I will NOT allow someone I don't know over to my house and I will NOT allow my son to go over to someone's house who is creepy! Plus, buying my kid some candy and a plastic frog without asking me. . . um not so cool.

I sat on the couch last night with Gary and told him the story. We went over all the details and I asked what I could have done differently. There isn't much, but there is one thing. When the dad asked for the phone number, I wanted to lie, but I didn't want to set that kind of example in front of my children. They would know if I gave out the wrong phone number. Instead, I should have said "I'm sorry, but we don't give out our phone number to people we don't know." I think this might have given him a clue, but then again, perhaps it wouldn't. I just hope I don't run into creepy dad again.