In NegotiationsPosted by Kara on August 27th, 2010
I need the number of a good hostage negotiator because there’s a stand-off at night now when we’re trying to get Jim-Jim to bed. And it’s not because I can’t bring myself to tell him, “No, go to bed.” It’s just, I want to pay someone else to do it, so I can actually spend quality, uninterrupted time with the hubby after we put Jim-Jim down for the night. I tell Jim-Jim it’s time to get into bed, and he says, “No, I want to play” or “No, I want to read a book” or “No, I want to get two cars” (with two cars already in his grubby little hands), or “No, I want to wash my hands” (after just soaking in his night-time bath), or “No I want to ride a horsey”, or “No, I want to wrestle”, or “No, I want to see GrannySan.” It doesn’t last too long because we never give in, we just put him in bed and tell him to go to sleep. And I don’t think the boy really believes it’s going to work. We put him in bed after one of his inane requests, and he lays down without protest and sighs, like, Oh well, at least I gave it a shot.
I was able to shorten the negotiations this week by using the GranySan request against the boy because we actually were going to see GrannySan (my mom) the next day. GrannySan was flying from New Mexico (where she lives) to Georgia, and she had a 1 1/2 hour layover in Dallas. We had plans to meet her at the airport during her layover and have lunch by her gate. I was putting Jim-Jim to bed the night before, and he said, “No, I want to see GrannySan.” I told him we will see GrannySan but he has to go to sleep so we can wake up to go see her. He said, ”Okay!”, and we didn’t see him the rest of the night!
We brought lunch to the airport the next day, and just to make sure we got her to her connecting flight on time, I picked her up at terminal B and drove us to terminal C, where her next flight was departing. We were lucky to find a parking spot on the front row of the parking garage, right by the airport. Then we all went inside, and Jim-Jim shared his french fries with GrannySan.
Which turned out to be hysterical!
After lunch, we walked her to the security check point where we said our goodbyes.
It’d make sense that the story would end there. And for a normal mom-daughter pair, it would. But we’re…special. After saying goodbye to GrannySan, I hiked Jim-Jim onto my hip and threw the bag of toys I’d packed in case Jim-Jim decided the airport was a boring place to be over the other shoulder, and we headed to the parking garage. I walked the length of the parking garage three times looking for my car, each trip carefully averting the eyes of the valets who were congregated at the entrance. I knew I had the right row. We had gotten a front row spot right across from the airport. How hard could this be? Then I remembered, after leaving the parking garage, we went up an escalator in the building to get to my mom’s gate. I was on the wrong level! So I went down a level. And walked the length of the parking garage three times looking for my car, and I still couldn’t find it. I looked at the airport again to get my bearing and realized we’re still elevated, and we parked at ground level. One more level down and there my car was, right where I left it (this matters because it takes me less than fifteen minutes to get home from the airport and out of my clothes, and I wouldn’t have called GrannySan if I didn’t have that to talk about).
It’d make sense that the story would end there. And for a normal mom-daughter pair, it would. But we’re…special. I whipped out my cell phone to call my mom (because certainly she was through security by now) to let her know it took her crazy daughter fifteen minutes to find the car.
[Kara, calling GrannySan's cell]
GrannySan’s Cell [a strange man answers]: “Hello?”
[Kara looks at cell to make sure she called the right number- she did.]
Kara: “Hi, ummmm, who is this?”
GrannySan’s Cell: “This is Larry with Dallas airport security.”
Kara: “Ummm, why do you have my mom’s phone?”
GrannySan’s Cell (a.k.a Larry): “This phone was turned into lost and found. We’ve had a hard time getting a number out of it to call, so I’m glad you called.”
Kara: “Crud! My mom’s flying out of C20 in 10 minutes! Can you get it to her? She’s flying to Georgia to see relatives she hasn’t seen in decades, so I’m sure she has no idea how to contact them without her cell!”
GrannySan’s Cell (a.k.a Larry): “I’m in terminal B, so I don’t think I’ll get there in 10 minutes.”
Kara: “Crud again! She left it in B? Can you meet me outside? I’ll pick it up, and see if I can get it to her before she takes off.”
GrannySan’s Cell (a.k.a Larry): “I’ll see you at departures.”
[Random number beeps in- Kara clicks over]
Kara: “Hello?”
Random Number: “Hey, Kara, it’s mom! I lost my cell phone!”
Kara: “Larry has it.”
Random Number (a.k.a GrannySan): “Larry?”
Kara: “Yep, he works in airport security, AT TERMINAL B! I’m on my way to pick it up from him then I’ll swing by C and hopefully get it to you before you take off!”
Jim-Jim and I picked up the phone and raced to terminal C to drop it off. I parked by the terminal, threw on my hazards, grabbed the boy out of his car seat, and sprinted inside. GrannySan was at the counter changing her flight. I think the counter lady might have been a little frightened of us, one lady frantic because she lost her phone and the other doubled-over, panting, with a toddler on her hip, because she changed GrannySan’s flight for free. GrannySan got a flight that left an hour later, out of terminal B.
Kara [turning to look at GrannySan]: “Want a ride?”
GrannySan: “Yes.”
Kara: “You have your phone?”