Trips and Growing Up

I sit in a hotel room in Georgia, on my way to visit my parents and brothers in South Carolina. The Singer is on a plane somewhere between Florida and Minnesota. Leaving last night and allowing Hubby to successfully put her on a plane this morning was difficult, but necessary so she (and I) can grow up. I firmly believe in letting kids experience as much as they can before they're off on their own. And allowing them these experiences, teaches me (the parent) that she can do it, and that it's okay to let go a little. Last summer, the Singer flew to South Dakota on her own. THAT was hard..On both of us..Partly because I couldn't go to the gate with her. Because of security, she had to say good-bye to Mom and Dad a good hour before her flight. (At Tampa airport, security checks are beyond a short tram ride to the airplane hubs, so we said good-bye as she got on tram to go over to the security check and then got to sit and wait, by herself). I stayed at the airport for another half-hour, in case she came back over on the tram. Later the Singer told me she was almost in tears as she went on the tram. She said she was scared. I asked if she wished she hadn't done it. She said, "No! Once I did it, I knew I could do it again." The success built great confidence in herself and abilities to handle life. I can't prepare her for every situation she'll encounter in life, but the more she is successful in a number of different situations, the more confident she becomes. Today, the Singer is actually traveling with a friend from her church choir. This girl is a year younger than the Singer and doesn't really want to fly by herself. She's going to be looking toward the Singer to "be in charge." The Singer told me she was glad she'd had last year's experience, because this would be easy in comparison. This summer, I've sent the Singer out to use the area transit system (the buses). Again, she was hesitant at first, but once she did it, she felt great. Then we've had discussions about how fear of the future is often because of the unknown, and so we "plan" for the worst to alleviate the fear. "Okay, you get off at the wrong stop. What would you do?" "Someone on the bus gets off with you and makes you feel uncomfortable" [the advent of cell phones, makes these scenarios much easier to handle then when I was her age. "Call you" is a common answer to these questions and is a great security blanket to her] So I'll be thinking of her all week, and all the new experiences she'll be having. I know she'll have a great time. The summer after my junior year in high school I went away to 2 different summer programs. One was six weeks long. It was awesome. And yes, I felt more confident when I arrived back home. Going away to college wasn't so scary since I'd already "gone away" before.
Hubby and the Imp are now home alone. They'll have a great time. I tried to leave pre-made dinners, that they could just heat up, but was vetoed. They've planned their dinner menu this week. Tonight they're going out to get two large pizzas. One for each of them, made the way they like. Leftovers for the rest of the week. [Ugh] The only saving grace, is the fresh produce that I know Hubby will get out each night.
Traveling, yesterday, I put in a CD the Singer made for me from all my favorite Christian songs. I really like listening to the words and then my drive becomes a meditation and prayer. Casting Crowns new song "Praise you in This Storm" is really wonderful and addresses how to handle the storms that come in our lives...Because they will. I listened to that one about 5 times. I'm getting ready to go jump in the car and listen to it again.