Really pissed at the neighbors!

We went to the Ren Fest on Sunday. We had a great time, but unfortunately that's not what this post is about.

While we were there, DS got two wooden swords. Two, so he could play with his friends. I made it clear to DS that the swords were only for hitting together, not for hitting the trees, random things, etc. He says he explained this to J, the neighbor he often plays with. Today he came home with one of the swords broken. J broke it by hitting the ground with it. I sent him back over to ask for the money the sword cost.

Now for the backstory: A couple of years ago, DS and J broke a slide belonging to J's family by hitting it with a baseball bat. We offered to pay a share of replacing the slide, but J's mom wasn't too concerned about it. Nobody ever let us know how much the slide would cost to replace, or tell us how much we'd owe towards it. Note that we OFFERED TO PAY, and were not taken up on it. Another time, during play, a toy gun belonging to J was broken, and we were asked to pay for it, which I did.

I would not have thought of asking for the sword replaced, had I not been asked to pay for the toy gun, which wasn't even new, as the sword was. And J's mom sent DS home to tell me that we hadn't paid for the slide yet! So I am pretty well pissed off right now. And I have to see this kid and his dad at the bus stop in the morning. If dad asks me for money for the slide, I'll probably tell him exactly what I think. And I am not forking over money for a slide at this late date. Grr.