Mother incognito

I walked briskly down the airport corridors, head up, confidence in my eyes, a woman obviously focused on a destination, undistracted and with a goal in mind. One carry-on bag slung over my shoulder and a stylish hand bag under my arm. Dressed in something other than jeans and a T-shirt, hair actually washed and styled, and making use of all the extra wonderful pieces of jewelry I have other than just a simple silver wedding band. I boarded the plane unrushed, took my time walking to the door when my row was called, easily stowed by bag and calmly sat sipping my water and reading my magazine. Then I started my people watching and as I observed I wondered . . .were they watching me, and more importantly . . . can they tell? Can I pull off this look of the confident career woman or the unhampered, newly married, jet setter? Do I look like I do this all the time, flying back and forth, sitting in airports, traveling the world, or is it obvious--obvious that I am not really a one carry-on bag woman. Do they know that if they could look in my stylish handbag they would actually find some fruit snacks and a spare diaper? Can they tell when I pulled out my phone to turn it off that I am actually not best friends with this device and was secretly praying I wouldn't set off some alarm in trying to disarm it? Do they assume I just picked up my clothes from the cleaners or can they see the small stain of tossed breakfast oatmeal on my shoulder? Can they tell? Can they tell it is all just a facade. That really I have three small boys at home, that every other time I'm in the airport I'm carrying one, chasing another, and dragging bags behind me. Do they know I never sit in my own seat calmly reading a magazine about completely unimportant celebrity news? Well, whether I was an obvious counterfeit or not, I enjoyed my pretend time on the plane but the best part of this New York trip . . . not having to pretend with old friends. Try as we might to be hip mama's out for a good weekend on the town, what did we talk about: our children--ha ha--what are they doing, who is dating who, recipes that everyone will eat, how are the hubbies surviving at home, the politics of neighborhood friendships, the pain of buying new wardrobes every 6 months for growing children, who is sleeping through the night, and most importantly, how to raise healthy, responsible, confident, caring kids. With children ranging from 21 years to 1 amongst us we had a good group of experiences to draw from! Along with the chatting we couldn't have had a more perfect time. Here's what I learned:

• A weekend with old friends is always a blessing
• While walking the streets of NYC, within the space of one step my nose can go from being delicately enticed by the smell of roasting marshmallow to being completely smothered by the overpowering odor of urine
• I'm not sure I will enjoy roasted mallows again for quite a long time
• The Drowsy Chaperon is a FANTASTIC musical and if you are lucky enough to blindly pick it out of a group to go see, count yourself supremely blessed
• Using your one weekend without babies to stay up until 2:30 chatting with buddies instead of catching up on some much needed sleep is completely worth it
• A day of musicals, live and televised, watched from chairs and comfy hotel beds, is luxury indeed
• If your cell phone happens to run out of batteries and you find yourself without a charger, DO NOT pay the $80.00 every vendor in Times Square wants to charge you for a new one (actually it was $79.95)
• Every hotel is loaded with spare phone chargers that people have forgotten. Just ask the concierge and they will find one that fits your phone and charge it for you for a very small fee
• If your hotel doesn't have the right charger, (like my hotel) check the Marriott Marquee, they have two huge buckets full!
• The Marriott also has a business area where you can check in for your flight and print your boarding pass for free--this is great to know and it apparently doesn't matter if you are actually a guest there or not
• With friends like these a few years apart doesn't make a bit of difference
• Hubbies who take on a solo weekend with the boys deserve much praise but making it look too easy might quickly earn you another such weekend :)
• A delicious Sunday Brunch at a rotating restaurant is the perfect end to the perfect weekend
• Thanks Christie, Annie, Sue, Alyson, and Gabi. Can't wait to see you again!