The kids and I were unusually ready for this trip. They have become helpful in a real way. They have always “helped” as little kids like to “help.” That kind of “help” makes mothers lose their mind. They are beginning to actually get the point. I realized this the morning we were leaving.
“Wear what you want to wear in the car,” I told them in my usual way. Gladys likes to dress appropriately. She asked me what she should wear today. She replied just as matter-of-factly as I spoke.
“Will I be wearing this for the next two or three days?”
“Maybe,” I answered back.
“Okay, Mommy.”
They remember. They remember different details than we do. Will they remember that for 23 days their parents put away the cell phones? What will they remember?