Home sweet home.

It has been a crazy two months since my last post. This weekend was my first one at home in over seven weeks. It was lovely. I mowed the lawn, went to some yard sales, and the kids played across the street; it was so suburban and peaceful. Already I am itching to be on the move again.

Just one more weekend here and then I'm heading to Michigan with the girls.

Good Travelers in the Big City

I recently spent two weekends in a row in New York City. I brought my 4 year-old Madeleine with me weekend #1, for personal travel. I brought my 5 year old Emilie weekend #2, for business. My husband wisely stayed away from all of this travel. Doing New York is great fun. Doing New York with kids is not as great, but still rewarding.

For one thing, with young children, you have to go to bed earlier and miss out on the big city nightlife. But, if your kid is a good traveler, as I insist mine will eventually be, she can sleep anywhere. "Good travelers can sleep anywhere," is a mantra of mine. Weekend #1 is a good case in point. Maddie and I went to a college friend's wedding in Brooklyn. It was a nice outdoor ceremony on a beach near the Brooklyn Bridge, and the reception was a few blocks away at a restaurant/bar. The bride and groom had reserved a private room and had, unfortunately, provided an open bar for guests. My daughter was one of the few kids there, but definitely the most well adjusted to rolling with the punches. Even though it was approaching her bedtime, she soon adapted, got herself a Shirley Temple, and danced with anyone who asked. She was the belle of the ball, bride notwithstanding. Meanwhile, I was having tons of fun, tons of drinks, and time was flying. It was way past bedtime, hers and mine. Maddie was asleep on a couch next to the dance floor, oblivious to 30-somethings singing along to Violent Femmes.

It was blessed freedom for awhile, but eventually I became even too tired for the YMCA. With the help of a sober college friend, we got on the right subway, which dumped us out at the doorstep of our hotel. We wandered in around 2am. I softly closed the door, picked up the girl, and tried to sneak her into bed. However, she was suddenly wide awake and she was hungry (having eaten only cheese, crackers and about 6 marachino cherries). So, since we were in the city that never sleeps, I ordered up some door pizza, and we sat on the king bed watching Iron Chef and eating New York Style Pizza, in New York! It was awesome, and I thought "What a wonderful time we are having on our travels, mother and daughter, I am a great Mom." Then I drifted off to sleep and awoke hours later with a disastrous hangover and a crabby kid.

She shook me awake and complained, "I'm hungry, Mom." It was 10:00am, so I could see her point. I, however, was not going to be eating for awhile, and definitely not drinking again. I had a pounding headache and no desire to walk anywhere to find a quaint little bakery for breakfast. So, without dragging myself out of bed, I pointed at the pizza box on the floor, amid our pile of discarded party dresses, and grunted. "Mom, that's pizza!" Madeleine laughed, "we can't have pizza for breakfast." I grunted again. "But it's cold, Mom," she complained. And then I found my reserve voice and my reserve patience and came up with, "Good travelers try new things for breakfast." The good travelers line always works when it has to do with sleeping, but before then I never thought to use it in any other context. It didn't let me down. Madeleine smiled, jumped off the bed, grabbed the pizza box, and put it between us on the bed. She got back in under the covers, grabbed a slice, and said, "Can I have the remote?" Breakfast solved.