Mom Needs a Getaway – Or Does She?

My kids are 2 and 7, and although the center of my world, and as delightful as they both are … I get pushed to the point of needing a break from them.

I see stay at home moms with four children, who keep it together seamlessly day after day with a sane, satisfied smile on their face.  I’m not that mom.

Perhaps it’s because I spent over a decade living alone and being an independent single girl with access to lots of quiet time.  Or perhaps it’s simply because my nerves aren’t always resilient enough to withstand the incessant take-take-take, gimme-gimme-gimme, I want-I want-I want which two little ones can generate.  Don’t get me wrong, I love being a mom very much.  It’s just a really big job.

So when I recently had a frivolous opportunity to visit my best friend in Texas, alone – I took it.  It would be a fleeting, two night trip… but I hadn’t seen her in 6 years, and the chance to do some mommy-free girl bonding was irresistable.

This means I’d be traveling solo.  Airline travel with no sippy cups or diaper bags?  Having sole access to my fully charged, electronic devices?  Did I still know how to do this?  Bliss.  It sounded like pure, heavenly bliss.

So imagine my surprise at my reaction.

On my flights and in the airport terminals, all I saw (or had my eyes and heart drawn to, at least) was every 2 year old in sight.  I played peek-a-boo with the toddler in the row in front of me.  I was tempted to pass over my pretzels to the mom traveling with two little ones behind me, and nearly offered to hold the lap child for a bit.  And I almost passed over my iPhone, to share my baby son’s favorite Fischer Price app with the struggling parent across from me.

I missed my kids.  Pure and simple.  I honestly and whole-heartedly wished that they were there.  I have to tell you, this came as a big surprise to me.

I had my friend’s adorable, almost the same age as my son, little boy to tide me over.

And in a frustratingly compressed period of time (boo, American Airlines for cancelling my flight mid-trip and robbing me of 1/2 day of my visit) – my friend and I had a wonderful catch up session and made some fantastic memories to tide us over.

I used to travel for work.  I thought I missed the adventure, the change, the exploring, the challenge.  Part of this getaway included renting a car and heading downtown Houston during morning rush hour traffic.  Boy did that take it out of me.  (Incidentally, this was to attend Disney’s On-The-Road Social Media Moms event – a great time!)

It was a self discovery wake up call:  being a wife and mom at home IS my current challenge in life.  And I love it.  And it’s exactly what I want to be doing in life right now.

At the risk of sounding like I no longer enjoy travel (which isn’t true), or that I regretted visiting my friend (which totally isn’t true) … I was ready to be back home.

Maybe mom doesn’t really need a getaway.  She probably just needs to read a good book in her quiet bedroom for an hour or so.  🙂

That’s me, anyways.  How about you?