A Weekend Away from the Kids

My sister got married this weekend, and we made the trip to Michigan so that I could participate as the Matron of Honor. The bride looked stunning in her wedding gown, and everything was beautiful with the bridal party decked out in black and white. The festivities were a blast. A 17-piece swing band from Detroit called Jump Street played for the reception, and the band was smoking! We had a fabulous time and danced all night long. I haven't had such a great time in...I can't remember when.

This weekend was a really big deal for us. It was my first weekend away from the kids. Ever. Our last vacation alone was in 2002 BC (before children). I've never even been away from my children for more than two or three hours, usually when they are in school or when I have some mommy time out, which is nothing more extravagant than doing the grocery shopping by myself. Once or twice a year hubs and I will get a few hours away when grandparents are visiting. We don't have sitters, though I took a big first step this summer and hired a mother's helper to come to the house for a few hours a week so that I could get in my workouts.

For me, hiring sitters seems so scary.

I look at my children's beautiful little faces and just can't imagine leaving them with someone else, which is why I work from home. It seems like a perfect arrangement: I get to stay home with my children while keeping up with my profession.

The downside is my husband's travel schedule, which when in full swing can leave me stuck at home with no break from the children for weeks or even months on end. I used to take yoga classes but had to drop out because I could only attend about 40 to 50% of the time. I currently belong to three mommies groups, all of which have monthly Mom's Night Out activities, so one would think that I have a good chance of getting out at least once a month. The reality is that I often go three months or more without an opportunity to get out with the girls simply because of hubs' travel or other business conflicts.

I'm not whining because it's our choice not to hire sitters, but a mom still needs a break every now and then!

So my sister's wedding weekend also turned into a second honeymoon for hubs and I. Our seventh anniversary is coming up in two weeks, so we decided this was a perfect opportunity to go off and enjoy being together without the kids. Hubs' parents came to stay with the boys and we jetted off to Michigan for a well-deserved weekend to ourselves...well, with all the rest of the family, too. We stayed up late dancing and spent time laughing with all the family we haven't seen in ages. And in spite of all the whirlwind activity, we did manage to sneak in some time to ourselves.

As we sat in the airport yesterday waiting for our flight back home, we pledged to make this an annual occurrence for us, to take a trip away from the children for at least a few days every year and spend time enjoying each other's company, which is what brought us together in the first place and made our little family possible. We also pledged to start swing dancing in the basement for our weekend dates at home.

Andrea is a work-at-home mother to three curious little boys. She also blogs at Andrea's Recipes.