Time Away From My Kids Helped Me and Them...

I have been away. For a whole weekend. WITH NO KIDS!! For the first time since having them!

As you know I've now entered the 30 club (eeek!) so my awesome friends decided to treat me and another of our friends who joined me in entering the dirty thirties to a weekend away.
It was fabulous. There was cocktails, boat rides, cocktails, good food, shopping, cocktails, belly laughing, crazy fudge making people and some more cocktails.

Ah these guys!

I relaxed and unwound the tension in my shoulders. I had fun and enjoyed myself. I let go of my usual responsibilities for two days and it was so nice. Just what the doctor ordered...literally.

I haven't written about this yet as it's fairly new to me and still very much an ongoing process but I have been diagnosed with stress. I know right what mum isn't stressed? But to have it officially put to you by a doctor put me in my place a little bit. And whats come of that is that every professional I speak to tells me I need a break. Well that's pretty hard to come by when you're a full time mum.

People get signed off of work for stress. I can't get signed off from being a mum, there is no break, at least not a regular one for me.
There are things I can do like carving out some time in the evenings to go for a run or read a book instead of zoning out in front of the TV, or just doing something for me instead of putting myself at the bottom of the priority list.
So when it just so happened that my friends and my birthdays warranted some girl time it was perfect timing.

For two days I thought about me. I took ages to get ready because I could for once. I wore nice clothes because I knew I wouldn't get snot wiped on them. I fully enjoyed being surrounded by my friends, being silly with them and laughing til our eyes watered.

I had a facetime with the kids the next morning where I was told by Finley that he was having so much fun on his 'Daddy day', he'd had a McDonald's and got a new toy and it was really, really, really, really fun - and knowing everyone was more than happy at home we went out for breakfast and had more laughs.

When I came home it was so nice to see their excited faces and I was excited to see them too because I realised that I'd had a chance to miss them.

Lee took us out for dinner that evening so neither of us had to cook and even though it didn't run smoothly I handled it a lot better than might have done because my stress levels were much lower.
I'd had time for me so I wasn't on the verge of exploding, I was happier, calmer and I didn't let it get to me like it usually would and we still had a really nice time together.

So it turns out the doctors were right. Time away was prescribed for a reason because a happy mum really does make for happy kids.
(And I'm not going to leave it another four and a half years before the next weekend away!)

Speak soon x


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