Recently in Vacation Planning Category

The minute my kids were born, I knew that I would always tend to their needs before I tend to my own. But it never occurred to me that I would travel to meet their needs rather than mine (or, at the very least, ours as a family).

However, that's what happened when my son turned 11. He wanted to learn to ski and he wanted to learn in the mountains of Colorado. This was not music to the ears of a flatlander mom who believes a Chicago winter is best endured by spending as much time as possible in the Caribbean. Colorado, I believe, is a great place to visit ... in the summer.

985,242. That's the number staring back at me from my frequent flyer account page.  Quickly scrolling through emails this morning, I noticed the airline's monthly update, which I always check against my records. The monthly statement showed the standard information, an upgrade on my next flight to Atlanta, and the breakdown of my monthly, annual and total miles. I almost closed the email before moving on to the next task. As it happens, I scrolled down too fast and the bottom line, big number suddenly jumped out at me.  985,242! Close to 1 million. I almost couldn't believe it. Almost.

Across the aisle from me is a mom with her 4-year-old twins. One is sleeping on her. The other is kicking the seatback in front of him, irritating the passenger in 10F. Meanwhile, the dad sits calmly in the next row, working on his laptop.

Periodically, the mom asks for something from the overhead bin. She can't get up because of the sleeping child. Still, Dad's face shows his irritation as he maneuvers the laptop aside and gets up to dig around for the bag she needs.

My daughter is now a teenager.  I have hung on to every single second of her sweet elementary school personality that I could and now I have to let that go and embrace her journey to adolescence.  OK maybe not embrace, how about reluctantly accept?

I have heard horror stories of the drama to come and had a few of my own as a teen so I am more than a little anxious about the years ahead.   I see glimpses of the dark side already - the emphasis on friends, the eye rolling, the "you just don't understand" retort.  And I also see how important it is that we get to spend time together - just us.  That goes for each of my kids.