Vacation's All I Ever Wanted

When the boys heard I was going on a ski vacation without them they could not understand.

“Without us?” All by yourself? No kids???

“Yes.”

“Who are you going with?” Who could possibly be more fun than us?

“Your friends’ mothers.”

“To Utah?” Somewhere that requires packing and airplanes?

“Yep.”

“Mom! You can ski here. Why do you need to go that far? And leave us?”

So I can have a discussion more serious than who gets to sit next to me on the lift, tell jokes more sophisticated than riffs on bodily functions, and have après ski lounge time that involves more than keeping track of a mountain of ski gear and fetching ice cubes to cool down hot cocoa.

“Because it’s a vacation for me. A break from the day to day job of being a mom.”

They looked sort of surprised that I would need a break.

“I am going to miss you guys SO much! I will call you every night. Okay?”

“What time?”

Before happy hour, that’s for sure.

“Um, let’s see, with the time difference, how about right before your dinner time?”

“Okay. Mom?”

“Yeah?”

“I love you.”

Twist the knife! Maybe if I have them clean their rooms before I leave, they can feel enough glee at seeing me go it won’t be too painful, and if I am really lucky they will start to whine and argue, so I can run, instead of skip, into the airport this afternoon.