Forced Calm

It happened.  It was bound to.  You can't possibly think of EVERY scenario.  You can talk & talk until you think you've exhausted all possibilities but you will always miss at least one.

This time?  Christopher's ATM card will NOT work in Europe.  Why?  Those pesky Europeans aren't on our banking network.  Go figure.  Whoda thunk?  Apparently?  Neither my husband nor me nor the customer service representative at our local credit union who told us it WOULD work for getting cash.

So.  There he was.  My sweet, kind, gentle 11 year old on the trip of his life.  In EuroDisney unable to touch a dime of his money why?  Because you can't test these things BEFORE you get to Europe...

I'm disappointed for him, that's for sure.  I'm sure he saw the coolest, most amazing souvenir EVER at Disney and that prompted the trip to the ATM and now?  He may never see it again.  And me?  The moment I hear about this problem, I'm going to go to that bank and get in that rep's face and tell her just what I think of her and her brilliant assurances.

Ok - that was my initial reaction.  I would never actually do that, no matter how tempting.  Instead, I learn about the issue while I'm at work so I have no choice but to work.  To wait.  To wait and see how it's going to work out.

About 5 minutes ago Christopher called.  He's about to crawl into bed after an amazing time at Disney.  He rode Space Mountain twice and the money?  The money he borrowed from someone and will pay them back when he gets to England.  All that worrying and the 11 year olds work together to figure it out.

There is a lesson in there somewhere, I know it.  Now I can't wait to hear the whole story to see if there is just one or if I learn multiple things from these kids. 

Children give me hope when it's hard to find it elsewhere in people.