Thanksgiving was everything I'd hoped it would be. Yes, the food planning all came together, and on cue too: not one single cooking mishap or appliance fail. Yes, the table looked pretty and everybody fit around it. But the biggest success was an entire day of good cheer: kids bundling up for a long noisy walk together; silly family game playing; enthusiastic potato peeling; goofy jokes and joy. It has been one of the best holidays ever.

But today we're breaking apart. The Chicago children will catch a bus to Boston this morning. Tomorrow morning the New York children will catch their bus. The good times are coming to an end, and by this time tomorrow I'll be moodily washing sheets and remembering how behind I am on desk work.

At least today we'll still have the NYC kids, and I think later this morning we'll probably all drive out to some chilly salt marshes and stare out at the Atlantic. And then we'll come home and take giant naps, and organize some leftovers for dinner, maybe watch a movie or play a game . . . 

I'm the luckiest person in the world. But I'll still cry when they're all gone.