So this summer, I'm allowing my daughter to plan an ambitious trip back to the home state. It's both amazing and frightening to think of her doing this. This is the first time we've made plans for her to be away from home for such a long time, and it's not without some anxiety on both of our parts. Still, the thought of having Fern with her really helped encourage M to try this.
Our original plan was to have her take a 3 week trip back to the upper Midwest. We would fly out together on a Thursday and catch up with all of our friends. I would take her to band camp on Sunday and fly home solo. She would stay in the university dorms until Friday, when camp ends and go home with her grandparents from there. She'll hang out with them until Thursday, where she would head to her best friend's house until Sunday. On Sunday, she would be picked up my her grandparents and taken to Girl Scout camp for the week. She would be picked up on Friday and fly back here on Sunday. Sounds good, right? If only things were so easy.
When I registered M for band camp I told them that she would be traveling with a service dog who would stay with her the entire time. The camp director directed me to the Hall Coordinator and to say I got a rude response would be an understatement. The woman was so rude I actually contacted CA and asked how to handle her response. That lead to a long phone conversation with the follow up guru (I love that woman). She had significant reservations about Fern going to band camp when she hasn't been exposed to such an experience before. I can certainly understand that. A band of 300 kids is not going to be a quiet experience. She waffled on GS camp, but M is going to a horseback riding camp and we would have to find something to do with Fern during the hours she was with the horses. I agree that it may be best for Fern to miss both camps.
It's hard for M, but when I explained why we made the decision she understood. In fact, she has become worried that new things might bother Fern and is starting to become anxious.
So now I'm in a quandary. I hate the idea of letting M go away for weeks at a time without Fern there. I have come to trust Fern to help Mika if needed and having to rely on strangers to help does not sound like a good plan to me. On the other hand, this is the first time that M has felt confident enough to even try something like this. I sure as heck am not going to hold her back. So right now the tentative plan is to bring Fern with us for the 1st weekend of hanging out with friends, and then I'll take her back home with me. I wish there was some way to get her back to M when camp is over, but I can't afford to make several extra flights to make it happen.
I guess this is one of those times that I'll just have to grin and bear it. Hopefully Fern won't be too upset without Mika. And I sincerely hope that this doesn't harm the bond between the two of them. CA said that they had no doubt this wouldn't harm their bond and I'm just going to have to trust them on that.
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