Is there anything more exciting than planning a new trip?  Especially one you didn’t expect to make?

As readers of my blog know, I occasionally travel to Boston for work. I have a partially packed trip coming up that is going to necessitate me to be in Boston for the full work week.  This means, from a logistical perspective, I’d need to leave the west coast early Sunday afternoon to be in Boston at a reasonable time to make Monday morning meetings and be productive.  That would be almost 6 whole days away from my babies. (Considering how well my kids did last trip I was away 5 days, this doesn’t bode well for anyone)

I also realized the trip was scheduled for the week before mother’s day.  I’ve never spent mother’s day with my mom and grandmother since becoming a mom myself.  As soon as I made the connection I immediately started trying to work out a crazy plan that had me in Boston with two kids and a variety of different people coming up to help while I work, and finally taking everyone to NJ afterward.  When I pitched this to my husband he had an even simpler, amazing idea that encompases everything I wanted to do. 

So last night, our whole family jumped on a Red-Eye from the West Coast and head to NJ.  I’ll leave for Boston to work for the week, while my husband and the kids will stay in NJ.  My husband can work out of his NJ office, and my family can take care of the kids during the day.  Then I’ll join them again on the weekend, and we will all celebrate Mother’s Day together before we fly back to California together. 

So get this:

• My husband gets an excuse to work on-site in the NJ location and away from home for a change,


• My kids get a week in NJ surrounded by loving grandparents, great-grandmother, aunts and uncles,


• My parents and grandmother get one full week of quality one-on-one time with the kids, and


• I get a week kid-free in Boston to concentrate on work AND I get to spend Mother’s Day with my mom and grandmother for the first time since becoming a mom. 

A win for everyone!

Quality time with the grandparents will be plentiful!