“I’d do anything for you,” she said.

I know, mom.

—

When I started my job with my new company, they told me about the company meeting they would be having in April. I said “Sure!” when they asked me if I thought I’d be able to make it. At the time, I figured two months would be plenty of time to get used to the idea of being away from Giana and to pump a week’s worth of food for her. Rafa and I thought he could use a combination of grandma babysitters, vacation days and maybe the drop-in daycare to get him through a week of life as a single dad.

I tried to prepare. But my pumping skills had severely diminished since I left MegaCorp and didn’t have any extra to freeze. I tried to practice leaving Giana behind, but I actually drove home in tears from a two hour trip to the grocery store. When signing her up for drop-in daycare, I kept running into roadblocks.  The trip was just a couple of weeks away and I just knew – I wasn’t going to be able to leave my little girl for that long.

I called mom. Would you be willing to drive 6+ hours in the car with me, stay in a questionable hotel and take care of Giana all day long?

“I’d do anything for you,” she said.

—

We loaded up her car on Sunday morning and drove across the whole state of Wisconsin. Giana did great during the drive, except for the blow-out while we were getting some lunch. Mom took her soiled onesie to the bathroom to scrub while I finished wiping down my peanut. We found our hotel, a run-down Super 8 with a super cheap rate. It was only seven miles from the college conference center where my colleagues would be meeting.

Each day of the trip, I would get up and get ready super early. We would load a sleepy girl into the car and mom would drive me to the meeting place. When Giana refused to eat, or when I just missed her, mom would jump back in the car and bring her to me. I stayed with my work friends through late dinner while mom gave baths and started the bedtime routine. Most nights, I came rushing back around 10 p.m., just in time to give Giana one more feeding before we all could go to sleep.

After a week of this, we headed for home on Friday afternoon. We went straight to Iowa so mom could jump in and help with my sister’s garage sale. Rafa came to pick us up and we got to Minneapolis around midnight.

—

We are finally all settled back in: laundry is done, Giana’s routine is almost back on track. The whole trip was exhausting for me. I lost my voice and I am losing a battle with a cold. But I don’t regret it one bit. I needed to have my daughter near me.

I would do anything for her.

I am convinced the whole trip had to be boring for mom. She said it was awesome. She said she loved having so much time with Giana. I have been trying to think of enough words to express my thankfulness, but I can’t. I can’t think of a gift lovely enough to show her how much I appreciate her sacrifice of a week. Hallmark doesn’t have a card that says, “Hey mom, your selflessness helped me be a good mom and employee. I wouldn’t have been able to be both without your help.”

The kind of mom I have is the kind of mom I want to become.

She would do anything for me.