Travel

There are two different anxieties at play when you pack your kid off to camp for the first time. One, your child’s anxieties about fitting in, making new friends, being homesick, having a good time. But those anxieties may pale in comparison to your own anxiety of being a parent and sending your kid off to fend for him or herself. (I would like to point out that there are many kids who may jump on the bus, offer a quick wave and return smiling a month later. Count those blessings!)

The best piece of advice I’ve ever heard is that plane travel is a finite amount of time. Even if it’s the worst flight ever (motion sickness! Endless crying!), it ends when the plane touches down and then you never need to see any of the passengers ever again.

True story: this year our family went to Disney World. As we are walking from one ride to the next, my 6 year-old begins to complain that he is bored. I (mostly patiently) explain to him that he is literally at the most fun place on the planet, and it is simply impossible for him to be bored. Without missing a beat, he says to me, “well then I’m hungry.”