So bring on the mom guilt and the sadness of leaving my kids for an ENTIRE 4 DAY WEEKEND!!!!!! I’ve literally never left my kids for more then several hours and the only overnight stays they’ve had without me have been when I’ve been in the hospital delivering their siblings. THAT’S IT!!!!
I’ve been lucky enough to be a stay at home mom since I had my first 13 years ago. I didn’t even imagine then that I would be happy as a stay at home mom, but I found some moms groups and didn’t actually “stay home.” I’ve always been an on the go person and that continued even with having kids. I’m always involved and a go getter!
Okay, back to the mom guilt filled weekend!!! Truthfully I had so much guilt planning a trip away, but I needed to go back home to my parents house and check on them. With our current state of affairs and the unsure risks of traveling 10 hours from where we live it was best to go alone. So I broke the news to my oldest two who understood but were sad.
The day I left they were still doing virtual learning so they were distracted and I cried for the first hour of driving. The dang kids didn’t even CALL that night!!! They asked their dad to have a sleepover together and were distracted still so they were FINE!!! I was NOT!!!
Normally when their dad leaves them I’m sure that they take a picture and at a minimum send him a text. I got nothing and that made me even sadder to be honest. That’s the difference between moms and dads too I think. He was like “well no one asked so I didn’t worry about it!” While I was definitely glad they were fine without me, deep down I knew they would be, I was sad. Sad he didn’t think to have them send a quick goodnight picture or text at minimum.
Well, we all survived the first day even without messages. I stayed away for basically 4 more days and everyone survived. I did talk to the kids on the phone the second day for a short amount of time and everyone was doing fine. They did say they missed me but their dad was spoiling them with tv and electronics time. I was able to spend the whole weekend knowing they were okay and check in on my parents who also seemed to be okay.
It was a much needed break from my usual days of a million “mom questions” and I’d gotten to enjoy some outdoor time in the woods and on the lake. All around we all had a good weekend and the kids definitely missed how mom does things. So mom guilt aside taking even a short weekend trip away is good for the soul and good for everyone! Mom can destress a little when she’s not being asked for milk and snacks a hundred times in a day and the kids can see just how much mom does for them when she’s not there doing it. So if the opportunity arises and you can sneak away for even just a short time I highly recommend it!