Real Time Off

A little while back, I got to enjoy my Mother's Day gift:  Freedom

I had told Darling Husband that what I really wanted was time off from my job, but I meant Real Time Off, like working parents get. Real Time Off that meant 'Physically not in your office, not interacting with your work colleagues, and not taking phone calls to answer questions/solve problem related to your job'. In other words, what most people get to do for 2 out of the 7 days of the week. We SAHMs live in our offices, live with our colleagues, and pretty much always are relied upon/expected to be available to answer questions/solve problems 24/7.


****yes, I know most working people sometimes have to answer phone calls/emails outside working hours, go in on weekends, etc. I used to work outside the home, too! I'm saying in general what Real Time Off constitutes****

In order to get Real Time Off, I had to be away from the house and not even remotely responsible for anything related to my house or anyone else who lives there. Really, truthfully, 100% not at all involved with my home or my family. So I packed a backpack, jumped on a train, and got the Hell out of Dodge for a weekend.

It. Was. Heaven.

Even though the weather was so appallingly bad I couldn't spend any time outside (and I went to the beach, for Heaven's sake!), even though I spent a lot of my time sitting in Burger King because I had nowhere else to go, even though I ate horrible food because I was trying to be as economical as possible, even though the hotel had a lumpy mattress and a toilet that never stopped running, even though I started off feeling incredibly self-centered for wanting to go away and then ended up feeling incredibly selfish for not feeling bad that I went away........it was still absolute Heaven.

I could hop on and off trains as often as I liked without having to help someone on/off the platform. I could take as much time as I wanted trying to figure out which tram to get, where to buy the tickets, what time the tram would be coming without having to battle with a stroller. I didn't have to worry if someone needed an emergency toilet break, if I had enough snacks to distract a fussy toddler, what to fix for food while trying to both accommodate different eating-ability levels and still keep everyone relatively healthy, make sure others had clean clothes, did I have time to finish an errand before naptime, wonder when I could squeeze in a 20-minute nap without abandoning anyone else, be annoyed that I wouldn't be able to sit for two solid hours reading a great book because there is always somebody who needs something from me, I didn't have to pick up after 4 people, cut the grass, pay bills, break-up children's fights, wipe snotty noses, make sandwiches, run the dishwasher, or quickly cycle out to the grocery store because there wasn't enough milk in the house for the kids' dinners. NONE of that, for 34 blessed hours.

I went where I wanted, when I wanted, how and wanted, and with whom I wanted.....which was nobody! Some girlfriends said 'Wow, you're brave. I'd go with other girlfriends, but I don't think I'd be brave enough to go away on my own.' Are you freakin' kidding me?! I love you all, but I didn't even want to have the burden of trying to agree with one single other living, breathing soul something as simple as where we would eat for dinner. I answered to nobody but myself and couldn't get enough of it! I got some real psychological downtime, a mental break from the constant pull on me in 14 different domestic directions. Forget massages and wine, this was real relaxation.

And I absolutely cannot wait to do this again. All. By. My. Self.