When I planned this trip to Vegas, I never expected the trip that we had.  I thought that you would spend more time in the hotel with Grandma sitting by the pool or hanging out with your cousin. The experience we had was better than I expected and I am grateful for opportunity to bond with you without it being a kid-centric trip.

When we recall this trip, I hope you can remember this trip as the time you got to share in your mother’s dreams. You got to experience Mommy “work”: not my everyday job, but my dream job. The job that allows me to express my gift for gab, curious nature and creative mind.

I will remember how amazing you are. There weren’t any of those exhausting moments in parenting where I repeatedly ask you not to touch or ask you not to interrupt my conversation. You were the perfect compliment to me. In other words, you made me look good.

You were polite and kind. You posed for pictures when asked.  Your curiosity led me to cool and interesting new products. But most of all, you let me work and kept yourself entertained without being a distraction.  You’ll never know until you have your own child how much experiences like this mean to me.

I watched you blossom.  You’re not the most open child.  In fact, there are times I believe you’ve taken up permanent residence inside the folds of my skirts.  You have the perfect degree of skepticism that lets you evaluate people and discern if they are “okay” to converse with.  And when you did converse, I watched grown-ups delight in your special brand of silly, intelligent conversation. Sometimes, I find it hard to believe you are only three years old.  You seem so much older when put in social situations with adults.

When you grow up, your memories of Vegas will be quite different than mine. I never thought of Vegas as a family place or even a place to bring your kids. But you’ve changed all that for me. Bringing you to Vegas brought a family-friendly prospective to a place used to mean crazy, drunken nights. You indulged me as I pointed to spots where long forgotten hotels once stood that shaped your mommy’s pre-O Vegas experience.

I will never be able to articulate why this was a better trip than Disneyland for me.  Maybe it was because we spent time learning together and experiencing personal growth. For so many reasons, this was the best trip for us yet and I can’t wait to grow with you on our next adventure.