What a mess!

As I mentioned in my brief update last night, we managed to get back in pretty good time. We were a little delayed in taking off because of the weather-related issues in Boston, but it was nothing catastrophic. I think I saw where the average arrival at Logan was like an hour and a half behind schedule, which isn't the end of the world. We were less late than that.

What a mess we found when we got here, though! The roads are actually pretty well cleared, it seems, but the little bit of slush and snow froze up overnight because it got really cold. So there is a lot of ice on the roads and especially the sidewalks. School is cancelled in Boston, and since Munchkin's school generally observes whatever the city decides, she is home for the day. Who's jealous? I mean besides me... Public schools are already cancelled for tomorrow, too, which means that they are out until January 5, but I don't know whether or not she will be out tomorrow or not. They haven't cancelled yet.

It dawns on me that I haven't told you about her Christmas break travel plans yet. This is the time of year when I get really jealous because one of her friends' family takes her on a super awesome winter vacation. Three years ago it was the Bahamas. Two years ago it was a sailing trip in the Caribbean. Last year it was Aruba. That doesn't count the month-long trek across Europe two summers ago...basically, she is a spoiled brat!

As I have mentioned a whole bunch of times, the school parents have been extremely good to her, and to me as well. Her class is very small, so everyone knew who she was before she even started in school. A large number of the parents made a point of calling me ahead of time or flagging me down at early school events to say hello. They invited me to their regular "parent social occasions" and were just basically really, really helpful. I didn't get the chance to learn how to be a Mom to a 10 year old...it just kind of fell on my doorstep...and I will always be appreciative of the help that I got from her friends and their parents.

One really random thing that has come out of this is that a couple of her friends' parents LOVE to take her on vacation with them. There are a couple of reasons for this...first, her two best friends are the youngest of several children and are much, much younger than their older siblings. One has twin college-age sisters, another has brothers that are like 24 and 22. When traveling, it is actually easier to have a second kid that age than to only have one...they are easier to entertain in pairs;-). The second reason is that Munchkin is just so freaking easy to have around. She is always in a good mood, cleans up after herself, makes everyone laugh and just basically makes vacations more enjoyable...so, once they brought her once, they really look forward to having her again.

This year: St. Maarten. Yes, that's right...while I shuffle through frozen slush and suffer biting winds, she gets to spend a week taking the bathing suits out of storage. Bitch:-P.

It's OK to be jealous...I am! I think I will start planning a March vacation to make myself feel better.