Getting All Worked Up About Nothing (?)

Our son Landon is fearless, courageous, and a bit obnoxious. I love him exactly the way he is (although we are still working on his timing and behavior in some venues).

Landon really wanted to go to the cabin in Idaho with his grandparents. He knew that no one else from our family was going to be able to go. But he asked his grandma and grandpa if he could go. His grandpa is incapable of saying the word no, even if (and maybe ESPECIALLY WHEN) he wants to. Because of their incapacity to say no to Landon, Grandma talked to me. I tried valiantly to talk Landon out of this trip. Let's be honest: the main reason I didn't want him to go was because they are not always kind to him.

After a heart-to-heart, in which I was convinced that Landon understood what I was saying, he said, "So, can I ask if I can go to the cabin?" I'm tellin' ya, the kid is fearless (and maybe a tiny bit clueless). The fearlessness is one of the things I love the most about him. Additionally, we always tell our children that the answer is automatically no if you don't ask. So I told him to go ahead.

While Landon trapped Grandpa in a different part of the yard, I had a talk with Grandma. She expressed again that Grandpa didn't want to take Landon by himself. This angered me (reference that "unkind" thing above), and I told her that it was up to them. I also asked, "If this were ANY of the other grandchildren, would this be an issue?" My sweet, courageous MIL hesitated only for a second and then admitted, "Probably not." And so I told her that if they didn't want to take Landon they would have to grow a pair and tell him themselves. Her eyebrows went way up, and I said, "We will not be the bad guys on this. Dad is notorious for not knowing how to say no. If you want Landon to hear the word no, you'll have to tell him yourself."

Sure enough, Grandpa had said yes to Landon. Grandma quickly cut in and said they would discuss it and get back with Landon.

The next day they called and told Landon he could go with them. He has been so excited! I have been terribly worried.

They left Sunday afternoon. They went as far as Idaho Falls and spent the night in a motel there. Monday they took their time getting into Victor; they got some groceries and ran some errands; and then Grandpa took Landon to "the lake", which is--I presume--the Teton River. Tuesday's text from Landon said, "I just had the best pizza in the world! I love you." I texted to see if he was having fun. He said, "Yes. Grandpa has taken me shooting."

"The lake." Pizza. Shooting.

I have to give credit and a ton of gratitude to my in-laws. They have obviously done some planning for Landon to be with them. He did some planning of his own, including taking his laptop (DVD player) and some movies. So hopefully everyone will still love everyone when the trip is over. And then I can stop worrying.