I will be taking this once upon a time goofy looking, big eared chubby toddler to the airport to head approximately 12,000 miles away from his mom.... Ugh.
I'm already a mix of anxious and worried about the trip. I mean like I said before, neither of my big kids have ever been away from me for more than a week and never without a family member of some sort present. It's always been pretty much just me and them. I know, I know, he's being left in capable hands, but he's only one of two kids not making the trip with a parent. There's where my guilt comes in. Truth is, even if I could have afforded to go, I probably would have acted like I couldn't just because of my irrational fear of international travel. I did not however project this fear I have onto my child, therefore he isn't worried about things like being kidnapped and sold into slavery. He's worried about how nice his room will be at the hostel and if 300 yards is really that long of a walk from their hostel to the beach. Exactly the things a 13 year old should be worried about.
We did sit down last night and have a serious talk about all the do's and dont's of the trip and what to do if there is an emergency, all of that. I'm confident that out of the two big kids, this is the one I can trust to be responsible while not with me. Plus, the coach already threatened to send him home early if there were problems, that always helps...
So that's that. Tomorrow he will come to work with me, we'll go have lunch and it's off to the airport. I hope he takes a million and one pictures and has the time of his life.....
More later, I didn't want to mash it all up into one post....
4 comments:
Bless his heart... he will be ok... and it is ok for you to worry about him... it's in the job description, you know...
~shoes~
Hi Tara,
I've been reading your blog for a while via Linda Lou :) My family just returned from Europe and we spent 3 days in Barcelona. Is that where your son will be? He will be fine, he will love it and it will fly by. But please stress to him the reality of pickpockets there. They are brazen!! We were targeted as were a lot of people we know or encountered. Our hotel was on Las Ramblas and we could actually sit on our balcony and observe the teams in action. They are not violent, no assault or guns involved. They are just very adroit at stealing money, cameras, passports, etc. Make sure he understands this is real and not just adult paranoia!! Linda Lou has my email if you have any questions :) What a great trip for your son! Wishing you all the best ~~ Mandy B
@Shoes, I know, I know.... I'm gonna be ok, lol.
@Mandy, thank you for reading and for the insightful comments. Gavin is going to Madrid, but I did hear that pickpocketing was just as bad there. We'll have a special talk about that before he leaves again, just to stress how important it is. His coach will have his passport, but as for the money, he's responsible for it most of the time, which worries me! Thank you again for the information!!
just found you. i'm a new single mom and look forward to reading more! thank you for putting your thoughts/ideas out there! www.runningdivamom.com
Post a Comment