Carsen Heads North

Some of you may already know, but it's true... I sent my 5 year-old to Washington state on a plane... ALL BY HIMSELF!!!

We had to get up early Wednesday morning in order to leave the house by 5am. When we got to the airport, the excitement started to set in.

They give him a blue pouch to wear around his neck, marking him as a "UM" or Unaccompanied Minor.

When we got to the gate, he must have asked me about 6 times (the first 6 airplanes that he saw), "Is that MY plane, Mom?"

His plane finally arrived and he was one of the first to get on. It was nice because there were two other little girls getting on ( 5 years and 10 years-old) flying alone for their first time, too.

It calmed me to sit and talk with this other mother, sending her children for the first time, too... Until his plane backed away and started to pull off. It was the strangest feeling, one I can't easily put into words, to know that a little piece of me was flying away in that plane. I knew he was in good hands, and even better hands once he reached Washington, and I think that is what got me through.

As odd of a feeling that it was watching his plane pull away, it was an even odder feeling driving away from the airport, knowing that my son was somewhere in the air between Texas and Washington.

His flight was uneventful and he made it safely... a little hungry, but safe. Apparently, he couldn't find the lunch I had packed him (even though it was in his lunchbox in the most visible pocket in his backpack).

He's have a BLAST. If you're interested in seeing what he's up to on his trip, my dad is doing an awesome job keeping a blog that he updates EVERY day. You can either click on the link on the right side of MY blog titled "Carsen Goes North" or you can click here.