....to be in my house for just one night and morning without my kids. Now I do love them and have no desire to trade them in - I really can't imagine a life without them. But with that said, one night and morning in my house without them can make all the difference in the world for my sanity, sleep, and self care.
Here are a few things that stood out when E and G spent the night with Pa-Paw and Grandma Chery on Monday night:
- When I got home I put my things down and went to lay down for a few minutes before doing anything else - it was sooo quiet!
- I went to Target all by myself, without having to check in with anyone about going and leaving kids or taking one and leaving the other to divide and conquer - I just went, got what I needed, and came back home to that same quiet house (and everything got put away right away 'cause I didn't have any other little people needs to attend to!)
- I got two loads of laundry done - laundry is a pretty easy task, especially when you don't have a little person asking to "help" move the clothes from the washer to dryer or pull out clothes that are already folded and ready to go upstairs. It was nice to feel like I got something household-related done without feeling like I had to put forth too much effort.
- I was able to set out some death traps to address the ant problem we've been having without worrying about poisoning our children in the process - thank you TERRO :)
- When Wil got home we decided to go out for a drink and a bite to eat - just on a whim - because we could!
- I watched How I Met Your Mother last night....from the very beginning because I didn't have to worry about doing anyone else's bedtime but my own and I had more than enough time to do a couple of chores before crawling in to bed to watch.
- I can't say that I slept straight through the night, but when I woke up it was only long enough to remember that the kids weren't here and I didn't have to get up - yay!
- I stayed in bed a bit longer than usual this morning - everything was so quiet and peaceful!
- When I finally did get up I only had to get myself ready - what a luxury...I did miss my breakfast buddy a little bit though - Graham and I like to eat together in the morning :)
- I finished up folding the laundry and got that all taken care of before heading to work - won't have to worry about it at all tonight.
- I walked out to the car with only my stuff - it only took one trip! No one to carry out to the car, no one to buckle in, no daycare bag to pack and haul out to the car....I felt like I was forgetting something....
They may seem like small, silly things...but they all add up to a very refreshing evening and morning. I came to work feeling like I could take on the world and have been super-productive this morning. I wouldn't trade my mom-status for anything in the world, but it is awesome to have a little break from it every now and again. I know that I'm very lucky to have those breaks available to me - not everyone does...

