We made it home yesterday, sometime in the late afternoon, presumably all in one piece and no worse for the wear. Yeah, right. About 6 last night, I spiked a fever of 103. My fingers ached, my toes ached. And my head felt as if there was a vice grip around it, tightening gradually but steadily, every few minutes. It took 3 doses of Tylenol to get that fever back down. This morning, all looked good. Freak incident, I thought. Nope. After a trip to Pea’s preschool to meet her teacher for the new school year, I spiked another fever of 103. Off to the doctor. After blood work and a throat culture, the doctor couldn’t decide what was wrong with me and so just wrote me that dreaded Amoxicillin prescription. And I hate to take meds for something that can’t be named, but since I have two small children, I’m going to suck it up and take them.

But this whole “undiagnosed” illness? I can tell you what it is. Exhaustion. Shear, bone-chilling exhaustion. And any mom will know what I’m talking about. A week of vacation in a strange hotel room with no naps and weird cribs is enough to drive any small person to hysterics, and my little Coco is no different. After the sixth wake-up in a ten-hour stretch, I found myself biting my tongue to keep from screaming “shut up!” to my sweet little baby girl. Shut up? To a baby? Classy.

The work of a mother is just never done. There is no break. No vacation. And when there is a break or a vacation? Your kids are still on your mind. As a matter of fact, I can’t get mine off of my mind. I even dream about them. So I have to chuckle to myself when my mother calls me and asks me to make her travel arrangements for her upcoming visit to Fort Worth, because, and I quote, “you don’t work.” Ha. Double ha. Don’t work? I may not leave my house in the morning and commute to an office but I most certainly do work. And unlike you, dear mother, I don’t get to clock out at 5 p.m.! So, no. Sorry. Can’t be your travel agent for this trip. I’m too busy with work.

Anyway, a few notes from my trip:

1. Pack kid’s outfits in Ziploc bags, one outfit per bag, and pack enough for two outfits per day. My husband told me to do this (smart guy!) and it worked like a charm, especially with Pea, who loved picking her own “outfit” in the morning. And we had just enough clothing to get us through the week without having to find a dreaded laundromat;
2. Bring a blanket for your older kid, along with a “lovey (Pea’s is “Flat-Out Bear,” who has been with her since her 1st birthday, and is an official member of our family)” so that they have some comfort from home. It made adjusting to a strange crib in a strange room bearable for Pea (we also packed her two current favorite bedtime books);
3. For the airplane, a backpack filled with new toys & activities, never before seen by your kid – it is magic! And these items don’t have to cost a lot. They just have to be new.
4. Pack your sense of humor!