I know. I know. You are convinced that your life does not afford for you to have the ability to get away from the rest of the world. Your life tells you that it would be selfish if you left your family for a couple of days to do something for YOU, right? Sure. Of course it does.
But you don’t have to listen. You CAN make the time for you to find you! I am the first to admit when I get away from my family too much. I am the first to admit that I work my butt off to be able to do the getaways. And not just in a paid position either. I mean how many of us get paid for taking care of our families?
You know if you did happen to get paid—you would make PLENTY of money to hire a babysitter for a 24 hour period! You’d also have enough funds to get away with yourself too. But who am I kidding here? I don’t know one wife and mother who gets paid for what they do. But I can tell you plenty of wife and mothers who desperately deserve an opportunity to run away at some point.
I have been on mom-sabbatical now for three days. I had to come to the Jersey Shore for work on Tuesday and made it a point to stay Wed-Friday at a hotel on the beach about thirty minutes from where my work was. My family is in Chicago for the week so why not get some me time this summer?
Ever since we moved to Philadelphia ten years ago I knew that the shore was going to be my happy place. I knew that it was only an hour and a half drive to get away to a place that I dream of owning a home at one day. So I take a few days every summer to come and fill my soul with the swells of the Atlantic Ocean. A Jersey Shore getaway is totally different than Florida vacations. The people are East Coast for the most part. The shops, motels and boardwalks are loaded with East Coast families. They are just a different breed of people.
Listen, mom shame is real. Just like mansplaining. Kidsplaining is making its way into my house too. So here is some battle words to share with your family if they question your decision to run away.
5 Reasons You Should Take a Break From Motherhood
Your oxygen needs to be replenished
- If you have ever been on an airplane with kids then you’ve heard the flight attendant say, “put your oxygen mask on first before assisting your kids.” And it is SO TRUE! But if there is nothing left in that oxygen mask when the time comes for you to really use it? You have got to get your act together and get that tank refueled!
You Deserve to Find Yourself
- Sneaking into the bathroom to check out what your friends are up to on Facebook isn’t going to cut it sisters. Because let’s face it. If you’re dying for a break and you see my pics of my mom-getaway-to-the-sandy-beaches you know you’re going to be envious! Definitely, don’t do Facebook for your friends and feelings. Connect with a friend and make it a destination to get away. It will cut your costs in half and give you someone to shop with!
- Do you craft? I love to color. When I travel I bring almost all my colors! A few coloring books, sketch book makes it a happy me. Maybe you draw or scrapbook and desperately would love to work on it? Bring it! We all need hobbies to refresh our brains.
- Are you a mental case? Listen, that’s not a bad thing. No judgment here! As one who has visited that place a few times in my life, I can assure you that a mental health break does a lot to balance the soul. One of my favorite things to do is to write down how I feel when I’m on a break from reality. I want to feel the joys that I’m having and remember them in a way that brings be joy on the days I return to the madness!
Love Thy Baby Daddy
- Yeah, so what. You put your kids before your marriage. Whoop-de-doo-da. Hello? Is there a brain in there? Cause last I heard we all grow up. Even our kids do! So what do you do with the person who helped create those humans with you? Surely you don’t play Candyland when kids are all grown up and moved away! You have to remember to nourish your relationships. The ones that are right in front of you daily are the ones that need it the most. The first nearly ten years of my little human motherly life was a big fat blur. Days that ran together because of the dire needs to just build a good human. The fact that there is a grown man in my house? Oh yeah. I need to hang with this dude too. Take a break with him if you can swing it. All of our family live in Illinois and considering we live in Pennsylvania. we don’t have many options. But planning is perfection! Make it happen!
Play Catch-Up
- A vacation is for slowing down, right? Sure it is. But it is also for speeding up. Is there a book you’re dying to read? A writing project you want to achieve? Is there some friends and family you need to call and catch up on? Taking a break from your #reality can lighten up the load on your real life.
Be Missed
- Oh, come on. You all know that being missed while gone is the goal, right? Of course. You want the hubby to see how important you are. You want the kids to know how important you are. Even the dog! You want to hear that their life is in misery because you’re gone so when you return they love you that much more!
Ok. Now that I convinced you that YOU need a break—where are we going?
