Ditching The Kids

Mardi Gras...30 Beads. This is the text message I received from Mom. Mardi Gras? She was supposed to be somewhere in Alabama. What the heck was she doing in New Orleans? The thought of her walking down Bourbon Street, accepting beads from total strangers, strangely enough, made me laugh out loud from the joy of it. Mom took her second trip of a lifetime in 2008, since then, she's only gone places with us kids. I know she enjoys hanging out with us, but sometimes, it would nice for her to be with folks closer to her age, or decade, which is the 50s. Mom is travelling with her brother and sister-in-law and their friends. I'm heading South in a week or so to rendezvous with them so they can hand Mom back to me. (Mom has to be home sooner so she won't miss her monthly tap-dancing lesson.) I'm sure we'll have an adventure or two on the way home; we usually do find something to get into. Mardi Gras...30 beads...a message I never expected to receive. Mom has always wanted to go to New Orleans, she just had to ditch the kids to get there. (Let's just hope she doesn't end up on one of those Girls Gone Wild videos.)