Fall Break. Two words that will ice just about any working parent’s heart.

After our myriad summer travels, I can’t take a week off work. Yet I’m not willing to not spend time with the girls. And so I’m cobbling together a schedule that will leave everyone lacking and me up all night, trying to catch up on work.

That said, I am determined to steal some good time with my girls. Friday, I took off and Annabelle and I had a “special day” — we met one of our favorite mother/daughter duos for pedicures and Pei Wei, then went shopping for fall clothes at Target, and when Annabelle whined that she didn’t want to try them on I said OK and got her the DS game she wanted. (I think a little retail therapy is just fine for the kid — within reason.)

Tonight I’ll sneak her off to my parents’ house for an overnight, and Sophie and I will have some alone time tomorrow — all day.

It was going to be all-play all-day, ’til Sophie failed her vision test. Now we’ll start the day with a trip to the eye doctor, but even that will likely be fun, given Sophie’s love of all things medical. We’ll try to squeeze in a play date with another mother/daugther duo we love and beyond that I think I’ll let her choose whatever else we do.

This is very exciting to Sophie. Only recently has she started asking for one-on-ones with Ray and me.

“Just me and you, Mommy?” she asks, poking herself in the chest, then me. Her eyes light up when she gets the answer; she practically makes a buzzing noise.

We’ll both miss Annabelle tomorrow, I’m sure, but we’ll have her back in the fold by late afternoon — and we’ll do something special tomorrow night, because the following day, Ray’s the one on Fall Break Duty, and I, sadly, will be back at work.