For several months, I had been planning a kind of Grand Romantic Gesture to celebrate B’s birthday. Our five-day escape from home (and the kids) was supposed to include:

•    Lunch at Curry Village in Kingston on Thursday

•    The Toronto Symphony concert with Yannick Nezet-Seguin and Yundi Li on Thursday night, followed by dinner

•    Lounging around until late-morning on 320-thread count sheets in a luxury downtown Toronto hotel

•    Dinner with friends in Toronto on Friday night

•    Reunion with friends in Thornbury on the weekend, with lots of laughter, wine, and outdoor pursuits

Instead, here’s what actually happened:

•    My Mom called on Thursday morning to say she was sick and couldn’t look after the boys. Bye bye Curry Village and TSO.

•    Went out for dinner with the family on Thursday night. Moments after the main course arrived, Aidan threw up. Rest of the meal was a blur.

•    Woke up Friday feeling really crappy myself. Threw up several times and spent most of the next 24 hours in bed with cramps and a bad headache. Bye bye reunion with friends in Thorbury.

So, our romantic long weekend has been a near total disaster. Maybe I was too ambitious – perhaps I should have started with something smaller, like an overnight at the Motel 6 in Cornwall and breakfast at Denny’s. At least if that hadn’t panned out, I wouldn’t be experiencing the same sense of frustration and loss.