Oh wow!! I love healing!!! Your response was well thought out and I love the gesture of coming together to heal wounds so to speak. Mistakes happen and tempers can flare even at the most positive of places. There is definitely a bridge of communication going here. I don't know the story as I was merely a vendor at the event but I appreciate it when things can be open for discussion. Open dialogue is always the best I think. :-) Good luck with this you two!!

This is a great opportunity for growth!!! *HAPPY DANCE* *hugggles*

Well, I respect that you would 'fess up to being "that guy" after the rant I posted. To address your points:

1. Dead wrong. Before I got there to take over, my husband was in the room with the girls for the entire time the girls were in the room. We don't leave our young children unattended at festivals of any sort. Period.

And of the parents that were standing with us, ONE came up to me and told me she'd seen you take the rings out of your pocket. Not plural, multiple adults, just one. I responded. See below. The other parents voiced opinions to me that they did not believe you. So, the other parents were not silent witnesses. They flat out TOLD me what they were thinking and that they thought the rings were my daughter's.

2. My husband was there, but his attention was divided between two children running all over the room. If my daughter hit your son, for ANY reason, that is NOT ok, and she would have been stopped by us if we had known about it. We do not allow hitting at our house, but 3 yr olds have been known to hit even if it's not allowed. I am very sorry if your son was hurt. Instead of rudely ignoring her, maybe you could have brought the situation to my husband's attention to get it sorted out as adults. It's what I have done in similar situations, and it works.

3. I responded to that woman that you're talking about. I told her that without doubt, those were the rings my daughter had worn that morning, and I asked her if she'd seen where they came from before your pocket (she hadn't), and voiced my opinion that they could have come from anywhere before you put them there, and she conceded the point. I take that for agreement. This was after I talked to you.

4. My only point in asking you was that I know those rings very well, and did know where they came from. And you didn't, really. They could be any rings from the hoard of pirate treasure your son has, gotten anywhere.

My daughter came to the SFF that day wearing two rings: one purple gem ring in a silver plastic setting that is part of a birthday princess set with a crown, clip-on earrings, and a necklace, and one small pinkish-orange ring with the shape of a small scallop shell that she got from a friend's birthday party loot bag. She had managed not to lose or break them for nearly a year (unlike some of her other dress-up jewelry) so I know those rings well. She wore them nearly every day, since she's always dressing up. I picked them up and made sure I didn't step on them and took them off her when she was sleeping. They were beloved by her, and not just small part of a bunch of other unaccountable dress-up stuff. How else would I even be able to describe them in so much detail, since I never got that close to your son to see them, unless I'd already seen them countless other times before then?

Yes, they do mass-produce little plastic crap like that, but I still find it beyond believability that both children chose the *exact same* two plastic-crap rings to wear that day out of the multitudes of various little rings that are made.

And yes, when I saw what rings your son had on, I believed what my daughter was saying because those were *her* rings, no mistaking them. As for there being "the testimony of two responsible adults," this wasn't a trial, there was no "testimony" as no one voiced loud opinions that all could hear (though two of the three other moms in the room voiced agreement with me in low voices, not wanting to really get involved, and the third was the woman discussed above), so you are making up one of those people unless you’re counting yourself as one of them. There was the one lady you mentioned already who saw you pull some rings out of your pocket, and who I talked to and who I believe changed her mind, not anyone else.

While I still have to disagree about what happened after I got there, I don’t think you are a mean, evil troll who steals worthless plastic trinkets from little girls. (And I might add, they were not "worthless" to my daughter.)

I have an argumentative nature, so I’m disinclined to dissemble when I believe I’m right, but it doesn’t mean I have strong feelings about the situation, just that I feel it’s important to have the correct facts of a situation presented. The strongest feelings I had about the situation was mainly shock and incredulity at the time, and a little bit mad for my daughter’s sake. I told my side of things here in an “OMG! Can you believe this?!” attitude, but I see how I should have kept it to myself, because it’s not something that matters in the greater scheme of things. I’m truly sorry to have brought it up in so public a place.

Chances are pretty good that we’ll see each other again since we run in the same circles and have similar interests. So, no hard feelings here. I get things off my chest, then I am over them, and I am over this. This is the last I will ever mention it, here or elsewhere. And if I see you in the near future I’ll treat you just as I would treat anyone else, as if our disagreement never happened. No snark or gossip or mistrust. Just a clean slate and a fresh start.

If you have anything you'd like to add, we can take this to private message, and not keep dragging it out everywhere, but like I said, I'm pretty much done with it and really have nothing more to say.


See you around,
Allison