100k vs 200 hundred dollars 

so, loser ex was at my sons birthday party this past weekend....as usual.

we are such great ex's at things like this......we talk like we're still married....(honestly, some people don't even know we're bitter ex's when they see us for the first time at our kids parties).

we help organize the kids and keep things flowing and use eye contact to speak things like 'are you watching this?' or 'i'll follow him around, you follow her.'

but, as some of you may know...he's a total loser, dead beat, jerky ex.....hence his name, loser ex.

he owes my children over 100 hundred thousand dollars in child care.  he refuses to pay.  he's done the whole 'professionally unemployed' thing for years.....

anyway, so for every birthday, every tuition payment, every everything, i pay for it all....he shows up...we act nice...party ends...one of us texts the other something cruel and gross and life goes on.

this time, the bowling alley attendant who helps with the parties asked me to point out the dad....she said they normally always hand the bills to the dads.....

that made me laugh out loud and then i pointed him out.  i explained he wouldn't pay and to bring it back to me and i would...but it would be fun to watch.

well, things got busy and i was running around and then i needed to run out and shuffle my daughter to another birthday party.....before i knew it my sons party was over, i was in the car shuffling and moving on...i figured, wow...he must have paid!  how coolio is that?

the phone rang. it was my loser ex's sister.  my ex sister in law...(we really need better names for these people).  she said she was at the bowling alley and she was alone and the attendant wanted to know who would be paying.

apparently loser ex rebuffed the bill (shocking!) and ran out the door.

i told ex sis-in-law to tell them to use my credit card on file, that i used for the deposit.

she said they couldn't do that.

she said she would pay and would expect me to reimburse her.

i said 'how about this....you pay (and thank you by the way), and ask your dead beat, loser, no good, not working, good for nothing brother, who owes your niece and nephew (and god child by the way), over one hundred thousand dollars....surely he can find two hundred bucks to pay his super special sister back asap, right?"

so, was that as petty as it sounds?

i know it was.

but seriously, a tiny part of me feels vindicated.

is it sad that she's in the midst of this battle?   yes.  but she's never stood up for her niece and nephew. she's never told her loser brother to wake up be a man and father.  but still, not her battle.

is is sad that i'm secretly thrilled that i managed to get a lousy two hundred bucks out of someone from his family, even though he owes me 100k?

yes.

i'll take what i can get.

or as i tell my kids during dinner.....

you get what you get and you don't get upset.