Road Trips and Stranger Anxiety

Last week, I received my weekly update email from Babycenter.com alerting me to the fact that it's about time for Camden to develop stranger anxiety. Normally, I'd give an email like that barely a passing thought, but since we were a couple of days away from embarking on his very first road trip to meet his great-grandmother, I worried. I didn't want my grandmother's first impression of my happy-go-lucky, friendly baby to be that of a screaming, frantic basketcase. And I also wanted to be sensitive to Camden's needs during this emotional milestone.

We arrived at my Grandma's house (it feels so weird to say "my Grandma's house"; she was always one-half of "Grandma & Papa"...more on that later) & Camden was in good spirits. He stared at his new surroundings, broke out into a big grin when he saw my Grandma's dog (this child loves animals), and just seemed generally content. And then my Grandma reached out her arms to hold Camden. Enter: Stranger Anxiety. It feels weird to call my grandmother a stranger, but to Camden, she was. And as she wrapped her arms around him, he looked at me with wide eyes as if asking, Mommy, who is this lady and why are you giving me to her?! And then his face crumbled and I knew what was coming next: the tears.

My grandmother handled the situation gracefully. She raised 3 children of her own; she knew what to expect. She handed Camden back to me quickly, knowing he needed to feel the comfort and security of my arms. As soon as I was holding him again, he looked back at Grandma and offered her one of his biggest grins as a consolation. And he spent the rest of the time at her house just smiling away at her...as long as I was holding him. But you know what? That was okay. Grandma enjoyed his smiles and chatter as he took in his new surroudings and Camden got to experience all of this newness without feeling insecure. Win-win.

On another note, being at "just Grandma's" house was so strange. This was my first trip to her home since my grandfather passed away almost a year ago (side note: this is the same grandfather that Camden is named after). It's interesting to me that Papa's absence was just as powerful as his presence. I could feel him in every single room in that house. I could imagine the way he'd look at Camden. I could almost hear the things he'd say to my son. I hate that Camden will never know him, but I so look forward to the day he asks me about his middle name and I get to tell him all about Papa.

Overall, I'd say Camden's first road trip was a huge success, complete with meeting new relatives, successful hotel naps, dinners out, and minimal-fuss car rides. Mission accomplished.