Mommy is in evil.

Explaining travel to a child is sometimes tricky. In today's age of iPads, Facetime, recordable storybooks, and of course the good, old-fashioned, telephone, it's easy to feel like you're right next door rather than halfway around the world. It's important to note (and I note this for myself as much as friends and random strangers, because I may forget who I used to be) that in the world of me pre-Jack I traveled a lot. An awful lot. There was a year that I'd spend a few weeks in India, come home for sometimes a week, and then jump back on BA 214 to LHR, leaving at 21:00 (20:00 during daylight savings time). So travel is something I'm very experienced with, and truly love. Then came Maude, eh, Jack. Suddenly the idea of being half a world away is a little bit scary. What if he wakes up in the middle of the night and wants Mommy? What if he trips and falls and scrapes his knee? What if there's a sinkhole in the playground at school? I have a thousand of these, but I won't do that to you. Anyway, it's tough. But tough doesn't mean I don't do it. 

A few weeks ago it became clear that I'd need to take a trip for business. I could do the trip in five days, but being that I'd be traveling to Israel right around Purim it seemed silly to not stay for a few extra days to explore the country and enjoy the holiday. So my husband and I spent some time shuffling schedules, coordinating transportation, talking to Jack about my absence, and, honestly, reassuring me that everything would be just fine.

So, I put Jack to bed, and off I headed to the airport. By the time he woke up I was in Tel Aviv, and my husband and I set up a Facetime with Jack so that I could say good morning, remind him that I love him, tell him where I am, even show him the amazing view of the Mediterranean from my hotel room. The call went well, I let out a sigh of relief and began to relax a bit.

Lather, rinse, repeat on the Facetime calls. They went swimmingly. Jack was excited to see Mommy, I was excited to see him. He'd hug and kiss the iPad and seemed perfectly happy having some serious Jack & Daddy time. 

On day five or six of my trip my mum dropped Jack off at the house & they started talking about me being away. Jack announced to my mother "Nanny, Mommy is in evil!" Looks of bewilderment from my husband to my mum. "Where is Mommy?" Jack replied "Mommy is in evil." I'm still not sure that he understands that I was not "in evil", but the confusion is pretty cute.