The return of Miss Gremlin from Chess Nationals went much more smoothly than her departure. Storms and tornado watches were once again forecast for the Dallas area but the plane took off on time and got them out of there unscathed. Obviously I tracked the flight, because that’s what stalky good parents do, and when I could see she was almost here I went outside to see if I could see he fly over head.
We live right under the flight path to La Guardia airport. On a summer evening, there are no less that 15 planes circling in different stages of landing at any one time, so it was a pretty sure thing I’d see her plane fly over, and I did!
I waited a little while because baggage takes forever and then I began to hobble the 5 blocks to collect my baby. I should have caught a cab I know but I needed cash and the bank was 4 of the 5 blocks to school away so I just went slowly, telling myself that we’d catch a cab home. I hate cabs, they drive like shit and I hate wasting money on them.
When she finally arrived out front of the school in the airport shuttle, we hugged and collected her stuff and walked home… ( I know, bad for my foot but whatever).
When we arrived home she was so glad to be there. She showed off her medal and talked about the huge trophy they got for 14th place. She was happy to see her brother too! She chilled out, had a snack and grabbed her ipad to watch some much missed tv.
By 5:30 her eyes were drooping and so I ordered their dinner and by 6:00 I could see she wasn’t going to last long.
“Don’t fall asleep in the chair” I said “Because I can’t carry you to bed”
“I won’t” was her response but within 10 minutes she said “I think I’ll go take a nap.” And I knew she was down for the night.
She didn’t move all night.
This morning she was so hard to get moving. Tired and road worn are not a good look on a 10 year old but I told her she had to go to school because how else was she gonna brag about her trip… She informed me she was taking a nap at school. 🙂 I imagine the teacher will cut her some slack because he’ll be just as exhausted.
They came 14th overall but that’s pretty good. Only 6 points separated them from 14th and 1st place. Miss Gremlin didn’t win any of her games but she had an awesome experience and will remember it for a long time.
She wore her medal to school so I’ll have to take the picture when she gets home.
Comments 1
It sounds like she had a great time. Poor child was worn out.