Lucky baby; poor kids

 

As you can see, Phoebe found her Christmas present. It was craftily hidden right the middle of our bedroom floor. Is anyone surprised that Chris was able to find one of the elusive and coveted Tickle Me Elmos? I personally think we should just sell it on ebay; I can't stand talking Elmo toys. Phoebe will of course love it. The first thing she does most mornings is sit up in bed, peer over the side, and say, "Mo? Mo?" until someone fetches her an Elmo toy.

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On January 19, 2005 (which happened to be my 33rd birthday), my fair city was hit by a freak snowstorm, and the result was a traffic gridlock that paralyzed all the major highways, byways, and boulevards for hours. I left my office at 2:30 p.m. and didn’t get home until midnight. I could’ve driven to Chicago in that amount of time.

The worst part (other than the fact that I was pregnant and after three hours on the freeway I really, really, really needed to pee but it was another four hours before I could get off the freeway and find a bathroom) was that Mallory was stuck at daycare while I (and Chris) were stuck on the highways. Luckily, I was able to get through to my father-in-law (the phone lines were jammed too) and he was able to go rescue her by 6:30 or so. She ended up sleeping at their house that night – her very first night away from me.

This impromptu sleepover has become one of Mallory’s strongest memories; she often talks about the “day it snowed.” Last week we drove by her old daycare and she said, “Do you remember that day it snowed and you were stuck in straffic?”

“Yes, I remember.”

“Papa came to pick me up and I cried because I missed you,” she said.

“Yes, I missed you too,” I said. “But you know, you were really lucky that Papa was able to come get you. Lots of kids had to spend the night at school because their parents were stuck in traffic too and couldn’t get to them.”

“Why didn’t their Papas come pick them up?” she asked.

“Well, not all kids have papas who live close by the way you do,” I said.

Mallory sighed. “Those poor kids,” she said. Pause. Then she asked, “Are they still there?”