That’s the rallying cry from the moment my son and daughter-in-law’s plane touched down (an hour late at 12:20 a.m.) until the moment they left Sunday on the red-eye.

And I had such a great story to tell until my words disappeared. I thought WordPress automatically saved drafts, but not this time. All the pithy, witty, funny, poignant commentary is gone-vanished-poof-a chimera that was. How could a draft be deleted? I went through…Oh well, it was an overview of my weekend in which I went back in time to when mom and maid were synonymous, they both start with“m” and who can tell the diff?

I cooked and cleaned, and cooked some more.  Our tradition is to bring a snack for the long (thirty-five minutes) drive home from the airport. Being late meant they were super hungry, not just hungry hungry. They gobbled up the cheese and crackers and grapes and ginger tea like they hadn’t eaten in days. My mom-ESP was on high alert so I had made a Zucchini Pie earlier in the day, as well as Zucchini Cupcakes and Brownies. This hot weather we’re having caused all the zukes to ripen at the same time, so I had to find recipes to accommodate the harvest.  After a 1am feeding, they went to bed. That was just the beginning…the next morning I drove them down to the beach to go surfing and waited and watched-it was a gorgeous day–after a couple hours we came home and while they were showering, I made Breakfast Burritos and a fruit salad. An hour or so after that, it was time for lunch of Tuna Melts and then a mid-afternoon snack of guacamole and chips, and then dinner (we went out for sushi), and an after dinner snack. Sunday was a repeat of Saturday except I washed, dried, and folded all of their clothes and removed a stubborn stain from a pair of my daughter-in-law’s white jeans. I’m the go-to gal for stain removal.  It’s a gift, what can I say. I used hydrogen peroxide and bleach and enzyme release and baking soda with an old toothbrush, and we were able to salvage the $200 jeans.

And just to be clear, they are 31 and 29 and both have their Ph.D.s in Germanic Languages and Literatures (my son) and Neuroscience(DIL) so it’s not like they’re totally helpless. It’s just a mom thing. And what can I say; it gives me great pleasure. I’ve observed that there are two types of Jewish moms: the ones who have maids and cooks and travel a lot and are removed from the daily deets of their childrens’ lives, and my kind of mom who lives and breathes for every breath and word that radiates from their being. Talk about unconditional maternal love! I take it to that uber-level. I still like to hear him say, “Mom, mom, did you see that wave I caught?” or “Mom, I’m hungry”, or “Mom, sew up the hole in my pants, (shirt, sweater, jacket…)” So, it’s just an extension of that uber-Jewish-momness to include his wife under my wings. It’s still nice to feel needed, no matter how old they are.

It was 3:00 Sunday afternoon when I had a moment to check my email. The kids were on the deck enjoying smoothies and cut-up fruit. I’m not exaggerating when I say my son eats from the moment he wakes up until he goes to sleep. He’s a little over six-feet and weighs about 150. He’s not hypoglycemic or anything-no medical problems, just a highly functional metabolism  I’d hate him if I hadn’t given birth to him. He eats anything that 1. isn’t nailed down, and 2. isn’t breathing.

My eyes can’t believe what I’m reading, travel arrangements for the next day–MONDAY–for my captain. Are you kidding me? Tomorrow? Not only was he going to miss seeing the kids, but I was absolutely not at all prepared for a proper homecoming!!! He wasn’t supposed to be back until October, but when we finally talked a bit later,  he was coming home because there was another assignment they wanted him to take, so everything happened fast. Right.  There would be no perfumed and ironed sheets this time. I had loads and loads of sandy towels to wash, the house was a mess, and so was I.

After I returned from yet another drive to the airport, I was so exhausted I fell asleep on the sofa with a glass of proseco in my hand. I woke up around 1:00 a.m. without having spilled a drop (!) and went to bed, setting my alarm for 6:00 a.m. It was going to be a long, long day until my husband’s arrival at midnight…