Leaving early

"A" came for a month this summer and had a great first week. Then we noticed incessant phone calls and the next thing we knew she didn't like it here, didn't feel like she fit in, and wanted to go "home." Dh told her if the person she was on the phone with wanted to buy her a ticket "home" and the ticket was out of our town, not the bigger airport two hours away, she could leave any time she wanted after the youth activity on Wednesday.

We fully expected this behavior but what surprised us was that the other party actually ponied up for a plane ticket. This is the first time EVER.

I think it is really interesting that a child can be having a great time and after just a few phone calls learns that she is having a terrible time and is being treated badly. I guess a person a long distance away is better able to determine a teenager's happiness than the teen herself?

If I hadn't read a certain book I wouldn't even know how this kind of brainwashing is done. However, I have read the book and since the systems have been in place more than 14 years, it actually isn't hard to do. I assume this is the last summer time with us as I'm sure she will know even before the scheduled visit next year that she'll have a bad time and she'll be treated like the maid or in some other "unfair" manner.

Good job, Audrey! And amazingly enough, you even paid cash for it this time instead of making us pay for it as usual.