Vacation provides lots of 'Mom' moment memories

Perhaps one of the lasting legacies of a vacation is the family lore created.

If nothing else, after our recent trip to the Big Apple, my children now have several more episodes of eye-rolling "mom" moments. The collection began almost as soon as we left, with my fretting about getting stuck in traffic (at 5:30 a.m., mind you) on the way to O'Hare. This had nothing to do with any real worries over traffic and everything to do with my fear of flying.

My children decided they were going to force-feed me the anti-anxiety medication as soon as we got to the airport. Yes, soon they were making cracks about treating me as they would one of our cats being fed medicine. How amusing ... and that was just the first of many moments.

A tour guide at the Lincoln Center commented on footwear - the girls were all in flip flops - and pointed out that my tennis shoes were much more suitable for walking.

"Yes, but then you look like a dork," my eldest commented helpfully. Thanks hon!

No one necessarily likes being the punch line of a joke, but in the interest of shared memories that bring my children closer together and provide a touchstone for their future, I guess I'll take it.

Yes, we took a vacation this year, in a year when so many others are staying home, or at least staying closer to home. The reasons were many, including that we'd tried and failed to do this trip last year. But my oldest child is 20. The opportunities for family vacations with just the five of us are dwindling with each passing year. It was past time to make time for this trip.

With three girls who enjoy and participate in theater, New York City was a natural choice, and of the five of us, only my husband had ever been there. And he was 9 or 10 at the time. So off we went, using our government "stimulus" check and saved-up credit card miles to lessen the financial pain.

Some random thoughts:

• While tours are a great way to see the highlights of a particular city, we were glad we opted more for subways and walking. We got an up-close and personal look at parts of Manhattan, and at least one of my daughters vows she's found where she wants to live some years down the road.

• We considered taking a tour of television show and movie locations but settled for finding the building where Monica. Rachel, Joey and Chandler lived in "Friends," one of my family's favorite shows. We weren't the only tourists snapping pictures there, either.

• Sometimes home follows you. On the ground level of the "Friends" building? A restaurant called "The Little Owl." We had just finished lunch, or we might have wandered in to see how it compares to our own.

• Everyone under 30 walks and texts at the same time. Everyone. In fact, everyone under 30 texts all the time, whether they're walking or not.

• One of my kids remarked that New York City makes big bustling Chicago look smaller. It was a fair observation. I don't think Michigan Avenue at its nuttiest comes close to the mass of humanity and ever-present neon lights that is Times Square. Then there were the streets in Chinatown and Little Italy - wall to wall people, especially Little Italy on a Saturday night. It may have been a street fair, or perhaps they just always block off the street on weekends. In any case, it was kind of crazy.

• It's good to go with the flow. Someone had recommended the Carnegie Deli (quite well-known, judging by the photos of the rich and famous on the walls), and as we happened to be near it one lunchtime, we gave it a try. The girls initially were not enthused. We ended up having a great meal, not only because the food was delicious, but also because our waitress was a sassy 81-year-old who had us all cowed into seeing things her way. Waitressing is how she stays young, she told us. We decided she looked like Estelle, a character from "Friends" (again!), and she will live on in family history.

• I'd like someone to explain to me why airlines cancel flights six hours ahead of time because of bad weather that MAY happen. Faced with an unexpected flight cancellation, recooking and then delay, we learned we apparently don't possess nearly the travel flexibility we could.

The best part, beyond the two Broadway shows, beyond the sightseeing, was having that time together.

With no school, no homework, no rehearsals, and all meals together, there was lots of time to reconnect. Beyond even that was watching my three girls clustered together, walking and talking. Yes there were arguments and tense moments. Four and a half days of close quarters will do that. But there was lots more togetherness, more gravitating to each other and leaving Dad and Mom behind.

Within 36 hours of returning home, I was taking my oldest back to college. A week later, the middle one began her own college career in a different state. How nice, before the three girls are in three separate locations, to be able to bring them together.

Even if they were making fun of me.