Come On, Does It Have To Be This Hard?

I knew sending McKayla off for the summer was going to be hard. How is a mom to stand 6 weeks of separation from her little girl? But I didn't realize the actual sending her would be so difficult. I'm not talking emotionally, although it was and is. You may recall my previous ranting about a certain person who tends to make life difficult. Well, we have another installment! McKayla has flown to Texas 4 times in the past 18 months (although you may choose to count 5 after reading). Two of those 4 experiences have been a nightmare, and none of it has been anything I could control. Seriously, 50% screw ups. How someone can screw up so often and not lose out to the "survival of the fittest" I'll never know.Mess #1 - Last October (trip #2), McKayla went to Texas for fall break. I got a call at the time her flight was supposed to take off to come home, informing me that she missed her flight. For real. The next direct flight home was in two days. Again for real. Halloween was the next day. So, she got thrown on a connecting flight through Atlanta where my 8-year-old had to sit for a couple of hours before coming home. I had to miss the final game of my softball tournament to pick her up. It was a mess all the way around, and McKayla was traumatized by the idea of ever making a connecting flight again. Which leads to......

..Mess #2 - Last Monday, McKayla was to make her 4th trip to Texas. We spent all morning getting ready and met Tyson for lunch. She said very tearful goodbyes to her daddy and then at the airport to me and the boys. It was nearly unbearable. I thought I was going to break into pieces it hurt so much. McKayla was to fly to Houston and then connect to her destination. She was very scared of this idea based on previous experience. We had her cell phone all charged so she could call and talk for the 3 hour lay-over. She called just as expected, but she told me she was scared because they told her she couldn't go on. So the nice Delta employee asked her if she was talking to her mom, and asked to talk to me. He explained that the ticket that the above mentioned pain-in-my-neck had purchased (online, without any kind of checking to make sure it was OK for her) required a transfer to Continental, who doesn't accept unaccompanied minors. They were putting her on a plane in 10 minutes back home. The poor girl had already flown for hours, and was being sent right back.

I talked to her until they boarded her, and then made plans to return to the airport hours later to get her. What kind of person makes a reservation through a 3rd party online agency for a 9-year-old to make a connection without checking with the airline to ensure it's legitimate? Delta was very nice and kept telling me that their agents should have never let it be booked. I assured them that through my experience with both parties, it was highly unlikely that they had erred. So McKayla came home for the night. A new flight was booked for the next morning, and we began a more successful (meaning she actually got to her destination) round two on a direct flight to a different airport. Again, we all had to go through the pain of separation for this sequel. What a nightmare!

So now she's there, and all I have to worry about is how in the world I'm going to survive without her for 5 straight weeks, scorpions, idiots who believe a 9-year-old girl should be put on an unbroken horse (she told me today she can finally raise her shoulder without excruciating pain), tarantulas, idiots who teach 2-year-olds to shoot guns, and the rattlesnakes. OK, so there's more wonderful things from the idiots to worry about, but I'm out of emotional strength to worry about it all. I guess what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, so Kayla and I should win Ms. Universe! At least I booked her return flight, which means it's direct and I know she can fly on it. That's some peace of mind.