Breathe In. Breathe Out.

My ten year old daughter (who I lovingly refer to on this blog as Dotter, which is actually Swedish for 'daughter' - clever, ain't I?) is somewhat, how shall I say, riddled with anxiety to the point she's probably going to have a nervous breakdown in less than a year, or a heart attack, but probably both.

Case in point: she just called me sobbing because she misses me. She's camping this weekend with her father. They haven't left yet.

What if there's a storm?
What if there's a tornado?
What if she misses me?
What if there's no phone service and she can't call me to tell me she misses me?

I told her to write down on a piece of paper what she would have said to me.

And then write down what she thinks I would have said back.

But what if there's no paper?
Or pens?
Or if there are pens what happens if they run out of ink?

Oy.

My head hurts just thinking about it.

So, here's where I confess that I hope there isn't any phone service. Not because I hope she's tortured with sadness and loneliness... but because then maybe because there's nothing to do about it maybe she'll be forced to just enjoy it and be in the moment.

I know. It's not going to happen because she isn't wired that way.

And I don't know how to rewire her so she can relax and not be so worried about everything.