My mistake

Yesterday I was a ranting mad woman, coming undone at the edges! Oh my! What confusion! What blood rushing panic! I may have endangered my mother-daughter relationship with Leiya for life! After all the hub-bub she sent me an e-mail asking me to proof read something so at least I know she's still talking to me.

It started out with me being upset with Leiya.

"That girl! She hasn't contacted us in weeks! I specifically asked her to get in touch with me because I need to verify some bank stuff. She doesn't answer e-mails. She doesn't come on MSN. WHERE IS SHE?"

When Tetsu realized I hadn't talked to Leiya in awhile he became upset with me.

"For heaven's sake, call her! How can you just sit there and wonder if she's alright. And you sent her money and she doesn't respond? That's strange. You need to keep better track of her."

And when I explained that I didn't have her cell phone number anymore (she lost her old cell phone) Tetsu about blew his top. What kind of a mother was I that I couldn't get in contact with my children?! So of course I was upset with Leiya again because I was getting chewed out by her father!

I sent another e-mail. I sent an e-mail to Takumi asking him to get in touch with his sister immediately. I finally went on Facebook (I do not understand Facebook) and somehow found pictures of Leiya showing me that as of October 10 she was alive and kicking. So I sent her a sarcastic message on Facebook (I think I sent it to her... I might have sent it to her friend.)

At 10:00am, just as I was putting coffee in the coffee maker to serve to one of my adult students who was arriving in minutes, I hear a "BING" letting me know that someone was on MSN. Usually I only converse with Leiya by MSN so I rushed to the computer.

"Where have you been?! I'm upset with you! I asked you to let me know when you got the $3000 I sent you. I've been waiting and waiting. I need to get back to the bank and set up an automatic transfer. Why didn't you answer back?! This is not acceptable!!!"

And Leiya's answer was,

"I never got the money."

"WHAT!!!!!!!! My online banking says they sent you the money!!!!! That's a lot of money!!!! What do you mean you didn't get it?!"

"I sent you an MSN message once saying I didn't get it."

"But you sent that message the day after I transferred money. I wrote back that it would probably go through in a day or two and you never answered back! Go back and check you account! It MUST be there!"

But it wasn't. Panic! As my voice rose, my doorbell rang. My student had arrived.

"Leiya, you've got to figure this out yourself. Call your bank! Call my bank! I sent it to your new account number. It's number ********** right?"

"No, Mom. You've got the number wrong. It's one digit off."

I felt like I'd gotten hit in the head. I'd done it again. I'd mis-typed numbers sending $3000 to somewhere unknown in cyberspace. And I had a student standing in my entryway. And when I directed her to the dining room she pointed out that my floor was flooded with coffee... I'd turned on the coffee maker without putting the the pot under it... Coffee everywhere. Flustered is a mild word.

I could hear Leiya on the computer talking with her bank.

"Yes, my mom in Japan sent money to the wrong bank account. Can you help us find it?"

I threw towels and rags at my student and asked her to clean up the coffee. I ran back to the computer.

"Leiya, call MY bank! Find out WHERE they sent the money."

But my bank was already closed in California.

"Leiya, call YOUR bank again and give them the mistaken account number!"

My student watched me race from dining room to computer as I yelled out an explanation for not being ready for her.

"Oh dear. You have a very big problem. That is a lot of money."

Leiya handled the problem very well. She politely and confidently confirmed that her bank had returned the money to my bank when they found her name wasn't on the account. She thanked the bank for their help and calmly got back to me.

"Mom. You need to go online to your bank again. The money is probably there now."

And it was.

So I was fretting and fuming about not knowing if Leiya had received her money when I could have gone back and checked my own account again. I never thought to do that.

Stupid me cannot write numbers correctly. EVER. Stupid me was too busy blowing up at Leiya to think straight about my own bank.

I'm very sorry Leiya for getting angry at you. I could hear you calmly and maturely discussing this major problem with the banks. I am amazed at your poise and very proud of you. Please forgive me.

You still need to keep in better touch with your parents.