Jeff and I started planning a Christmas vacation to southern Arizona back in September, not knowing we would have a foster son (F.S.) in tow near the beginning of November. Tickets were already booked, and what kind of people would we be if we dumped him off on strangers on Christmas Day? So a little red tape and a month later, we prepped for Christmas at two in-laws, at our house, Santa’s big day, and finally, the first time on a plane that F.S. can remember.
Our flight left at 9:25, and Jeff’s friend Kevin was picking us up at 6:30 to get to the airport the requisite 2 hours ahead of time. F.S. was less than thrilled to wake at 5:30, but became more enthused the more he examined what Santa had brought.
Getting through TSA and boarding went about as smoothly as could be, and F.S. became equal parts excited and nervous the closer we came to takeoff; I think he gets louder and wilder the more anxious and uncomfortable he is in an attempt to mask what’s going on inside, but that facade fell away as we left the ground, and he held tight to Jeff’s and my hands. He did admirably throughout the flight, except for occasionally pulling on the seat in front of him with his nervous energy. That poor woman up there had some amazing forbearance.
Safely in Phoenix, F.S. struck up conversations with every stranger we met. He’s such a friendly kid! He was so thankful to have survived the plane and excited to ride the train shuttle to the rental car center, where we were given a Cadillac XT4 for the week. I prefer my Hyundai, but this thing did have a lot of get-up-and-go. That came in handy as Jeff tried to navigate the busy Phoenix interstate to get us to a Denny’s for a much needed lunch. F.S. is so self-sufficient, he kept the waiter hopping with his order of a huge double cheeseburger with fries and drink, and would have cleaned the place out of ice cream if I hadn’t intervened and insisted that his milkshake be a junior size.
F.S. was desperate to swim at our hotel’s indoor pool, but as it was not yet check-in time, Jeff and I won that battle and headed for Hole in the Rock at Papago Park, where there is an iconic view of the city through an arch. The rock was far too steep for me to climb, but Jeff and F.S. made the trek. Unfortunately, F.S. lost his footing up there and fell, and would have slid pretty far if Jeff hadn’t been there to stop him. I’m sure F.S. was embarrassed, but I was more concerned about the scrape on his arm that looked almost like a carpet burn. He insisted that he was fine and wanted to get in the pool when we got to the hotel, which we allowed with the caveat that he take a good shower, with water and soap, as we sometimes have to remind him. Once he changed into swim trunks, we saw that his side was a little banged up, too. Since it was Christmas Day, nothing was open, but Jeff promised to get us some antibiotic cream to put on the scrapes in the morning.
Back at the hotel, I took my iPad and Kindle Scribe out of F.S.’s backpack, which had been our designated electronics bag for consolidation purposes. That turned out to be a mistake. Before I could write anything for the blog, I had to give everything a good wipe-down to remove the sticky unknown residue and month old raisins. Parenting lesson number 47,510: Never put your stuff in a kid’s backpack.
The highlight of the day was watching the joy on F.S.’s face as Jeff played with him in the pool. Jeff prefers to float on his back and relax when he goes swimming. Not F.S. Jeff was such a good sport to play a shark game where the rules constantly changed in F.S.’s favor and to be taught six proper techniques for splashing someone. F.S. liked to roughhouse and sometimes go into deeper water than he should, but Jeff was always close by to keep him safe. He even tried to teach F.S. how to float on his back. I was impressed that F.S. let his guard down enough for Jeff to spot him as he tried a couple of times. Trust is a hard thing to earn, but I hope we can build it up. Usually he stays up late playing games on the tablet or watching YouTube. But after such a long and eventful day, he was out cold before even I went to bed. May he always sleep so soundly.