Go east, young lady
Updated below
Today, Tacy will fly to Washington DC to visit my parents for ten days.
She’s been asking to do this for months, and I kept telling her that we’d do it in May, when she was off-track from school and the weather was nice*. And now May is here, and she’s getting on an airplane all by herself with no qualms whatsoever.
Sure, she’s given me a few extra-hard hugs over the past few days, telling me that she loves me and that she’ll miss me so much. But mostly it’s been “Can I bring this dress to Mimi and Poppy’s house?” and “Do Mimi and Poppy live near the ocean?” and “When I’m at Mimi and Poppy’s house, I promise I won’t spill.”
Yesterday afternoon, she dragged a suitcase up from the basement and proceeded to pack it all on her own. I have to remind her to put on underwear, but the girl can pack her own suitcase.
I have to smile thinking about everything they’re going to do together. Tacy loved the New York subway, so I have no doubt that she’ll be impressed by the DC metro (much cleaner and quieter, with fewer rats). I hope my father will take her out on the Tidal Basin in a paddle boat; they can try to run down seagulls the way he and I did. I know my mother will take her to Tyson’s, and they’ll stake out a dressing room for a good hour and a half.
I made sure that all the clothes in her suitcase are stacked in outfits, but I’m already giggling to myself at the combos she’ll wear – and my mother’s reaction to them.
I hope she’ll use her manners. Sometimes she forgets the magic word and that she’s got two feet that touch the floor.
And I hope she has a wonderful time. I don’t want to receive a phone call from a homesick little Goosie who needs to COME HOME NOW. Because her tickets are non-refundable and we can’t afford to change them.
But most of all, I hope that this act of great independence is just the first of many to come.
*Does this qualify as nice weather?
May 1st, 2008 at 6:55 am
How exciting for Tacy and for your parents! I look forward to an update.
My parents usually take one grandchild at a time for a week during the summer once the children hit 7 yo. Each child loves it and my parents look forward to it.
May 1st, 2008 at 7:18 am
Wow! Go Tacy! What a wonderful treat for everyone.
May 1st, 2008 at 7:38 am
That is so awesome. I flew by myself when I was 5 from Boston to Boca Raton to visit my grandparents. I am grateful to my parents for being brave enough to stick me on a plane by myself!
May 1st, 2008 at 7:53 am
Oh how fun for her, and how scary for mom. At least it would be for me, and I’d miss my girl so much. Why do they always want to grow up and leave us? Oh wait, I guess they’re supposed to.
May 1st, 2008 at 8:43 am
What a gift of memory everyone is going to share with this trip!
May 1st, 2008 at 10:32 am
That will be so much fun for her! I recommend the DC Zoo! We have the pandas, you know.
May 1st, 2008 at 11:27 am
Wow. She’s so brave to make this journey. What an amazing young girl. I hope she has a marvelous time!
May 1st, 2008 at 11:37 am
I’d say she’s brave, but it’s probably you that’s braver.
Go Tacy!
And dude I know CO has a rep for crazy weather but, um, WTF??
May 1st, 2008 at 6:22 pm
How exciting! Best of luck to her.
May 2nd, 2008 at 7:20 am
Wow… big, and exciting, step for both of you!
Oh, and is that snow out of your window? I guess you don’t want to hear that it’s 80 degrees here in Hotlanta – smiles!