Would you say something?

Say your over-excited child, while helping post all out neighborhood holiday cards back in December through the front door letterboxes during an *extreme* cold snap which has left the cheap, plastic bits that hold them together creaky and fragile, accidentally snaps one off. (And I've noted a couple of other broken letter boxes in our neighborhood alone this winter; ours was sounding ominous during the negative temperatures, too.)

Say said child screams when it comes off in his hands and is very upset because it truly was an accident.

Say the woman you considered a friend (she was getting a Christmas card from us!) is byond annoyed, and her husband, generally unsociable under the best of circumstances, basically wouldn't speak to us.

Say you apologized profusely, had your over-excited child apologize, then left as there was nothing we could do on the spot, to finish delivering cards.

Say that *immediately* upon returning home, you did some internet searching, found what looked to be the best option for standard replacement letterboxes, and facebooked your friend the link showing all available options. And, of course, offering to order a replacement or reimburse if they wanted to order their own. And aplogizing again.

In response, you get a very grumpy 'we wasted an hour putting the inside door plate on the outside' temporary hold message.

(Note here: I would never have held a small child, especially a child of a friend I knew, accountable for an accident like this. And it was an accident. He'd been putting cards through letterboxes without incident all along our route; they were all creaky from the cold; and the way it immediately came off in his hands, making me think the weather/previous user had already weakened the plastic bit at the corner. We checked ours when we got home, and it, too, was creaky in the cold. So while I would have expected a child's parents to offer to reimburse m for such an accident, I never would have accepted. But maybe that's just me?)

Anyway... and then say, in response to your apology again, etc., you receive another facebook message saying please deposit £15.30 through their door, and to be gentle with a ';-)' face, as they were leaving on holiday the next day.

And after an hour or so, she deletes the facebook 'conversation' about the incident.

Say you had your five year old handwrite a letter of apology and a promise to be more careful in the future to go with the £15.30 the very next day.

Say you do indeed put the money and the five year old's handwritten letter through the mailbox.

I'm wondering, what would you expect from your friend when she returned home from holiday?

I would have expected things to be a bit awkward briefly after the holidays, but assumed it would all blow over. Especially because I personally thought she'd have realized she'd rather overreacted to the whole thing. Because, hey, things happen, especially when there are small people involved.

On the other hand, her daughter, while lovely, is a little too lovely; never a hair or foot out of place. Overly cautious and not much, well, fun. So maybe she doesn't realize that things can just happen if her daughter never actually does anything.

But I digress...

I assumed it would blow over, primarily because (a) we live on the same street, (b) her daugher and BooBaaa will be in the same class at school next year, (c), heck, they now attend the same village preschool for a few hours each week, and (d) we have a number of friends in common because of (a) and (b) and (c).

Apparently, I assumed wrong. Because without ever saying a word to me since, instead she defriended me on facebook quietly. So I guess this will make our children starting school togther next September 'fun', huh?


Seriously. Am I missing something here? Should I say something? I am going to have to see her on a daily basis come September regardless, plus I am a Board member of the primary school, so I'm not going anywhere. And this rather sucks for the kiddos I think...

Would you say something?