Tentatively Celebrating

Last weekend, I drove kiddo 8 hours for a sib visit. I did not have high hopes. I was expecting tantrums and screaming and acting out. Usually after I post that something is a success here online, I get the backlash... so I won't say it WAS a success.... only that it went better than I'd hoped. For those interested, here is a rundown.... Friday: Kiddo had noon dismissal. Bus dropped him off at 12:35. He changed out of his school uniform, we finished loading the car, grabbed some McDonald's for lunch and hit the road. Drove 6 hours, stopped at Denny's and checked into a hotel for the night. (Destination was 8 hours away, but I made the decision to stop at the 6 hour mark. We were staying with kiddos Bio Great Aunt and Great Uncle, who are the adoptive parents of kiddo's little bro. I chose not to go there because 1. Kiddo practically grew up in their house and I didn't know what memories the first trip back to their house would trigger and 2. Little Bro is ADHD. I felt arriving at bedtime and expecting both boys to settle down was a LITTLE much.) I purposely picked a hotel with an indoor heated pool. So we pulled over, checked in by 7:00. Took kiddo into the pool for an hour, had him get a shower, and let him watch tv until 9 PM. (The hotel got Nickelodeon. We don't have cable so this was a rare treat for kiddo!) The pool did it's good work of draining his energy, and he was out by 9:10. ' We got up 8 the next morning, had breakfast, and I let kiddo swim again until 9:30, had him shower again (he stank of Chlorine) and arrived at GReat's by noon. From there we got in their car and drove 30 min to the adoptive family of kiddo's big brother (almost 16.). We had a nice visit. The boys were appropriate in their behavior and had a good time wrestling, playing pool, playing monopoly and cards, and going out to look at the family's collection of goats, chickens and rabbits. We ate dinner there and left around 7:30. When we got back to the greats' house, we discussed sleeping arrangements. Little bro remembered there was an inflatable mattress, and the boys begged to have a sleepover on the inflatable matress. We allowed them to. They didn't get a lot of sleep but they looked SOOOO cute all cuddled up together in the morning, with a sea of stuffed animals in the bed with them. Sunday morning, great-aunt made me perhaps the best breakfast I have had in 5 years. I am not a morning person, but I am proud of my Southern Roots, and I do love a good country breakfast. She made biscuits, sausage gravy, bacon, fried eggs, and sweet tea. I was in HEAVEN. After breakfast, she asked my permission to call her daughter, who has kid's Austin's age. They were pretty much raised together the first 4 years of life. Her two kids were SO EXCITED to see Austin again. He played chess with his girl cousin, and then they started a football game. We left about noon, with everyone thanking me for allowing them to see Austin. I originally stated I felt like a thief... but that's not how I felt actually. More like... a deeper understanding that this goes BEYOND the birth parents. There's a huge hole in so many lives where my kiddo belongs. He doesn't just belong to us... but to them too. We arrived home 8:30 that night. Kiddo went immediately to bed. A little grumpy behavior on Monday, which he had off school I think the weather helped us, actually. Usually it takes 2 days for kiddo to have a low-sleep night catch up with him, and it snowed, so there was a two-hour delay on school on Tuesday, so he got to sleep in. So far, no backlash. I'm still braced for it, though.