I am not a helicopter parent. I’m not, I’m not.I sent Ice Girl a text message at camp yesterday.
O.K. Two.
Do I really need to keep track?
Ice Girl has to leave her cell phone in the dorm between 7:30 a.m. and 6 p.m., so she didn’t receive my texts until after dinner. Shortly after 6:30 p.m., Ice Girl called. My cell phone shows we talked for a little over a minute.
“Hi, Mom! Claire! No, I’m not ready. I’m talking to my Mom.”
“So, Ice Girl, are you having fun?”
“Yeah! I’ve met some new friends. We’re going go-karting after my private lesson tonight.”
“Sounds fun. What have you learned?”
“My scratch spin is faster. I’m coming, you guys. Hang on!”
“How’s the food?”
“Great, Mom.” Ice Girl switched to a gentle voice: “Listen. I love you, Mom, but I gotta go. Call you tomorrow, though, O.K.?”
*click!*
Um. O.K. Bye.
You know all that concern I had about Ice Girl going stag to the camp and not having fun? Well, I think she’s O.K.
It’s just, well; I wanted to hear about what she was learning. How useful it is. How much she’s improved. I was excited about the call and prepared for a nice long account about the whole day at camp.
Ice Girl’s making friends, though, and having such a good time that talking to Mom was on her list, but not the goal of her whole day.
I’m fine with that. I think. It’s just that my helicopter’s engines were warmed up, its blades were spinning, and I spent all that time washing and waxing it…
It's a good sign, you know. She feels confident that you will be there for her.
ReplyDeleteAs hard as it may be just imagine the poor kids who are afraid to let their parents out of their sight for fear the parents will forget about them.
As annoying as this is it is proof of a job well done.
Thanks, Queenie. I appreciate the reassurance!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad she had fun!!!
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