A Date With Myself

As I am writing this it is 3pm on a Friday afternoon. My husband and daughter have gone camping. After one false start (Marie forgot her "brother" who is also her "sister", a stuffed cat) I am blissfully alone. I finally took a shower (everyone showers at 3pm in the afternoon, right?) and am now sitting in my PJ's.

I am experiencing all those mixed emotions I am sure most parents face when given some alone time. I am super excited to have a QUIET house all to myself. I will get to sleep uninterrupted for a WHOLE night, and get to wake up when I want to. As we only have one car, I already purchased the ingredients for the special meal I will make for myself, something my husband and daughter would not want to eat. I picked up a DVD, and did I mention I am in my PJ's already? I figured I have no where I need to go and no one is coming over.

The mixed part is that I know I will miss my family, and I am also missing out on a special experience with our daughter. I have not been away from her too many times (I can still count them on two hands and she is going to be 4 in October). She was so excited to go camping for a night, and kept asking why I was not going with? How do you answer that without making her feel bad? I couldn't tell her that I am with her all day, all the time, and that I need a little break. I can not tell her that I LOVE when I have the house to myself. I don't want to tell her that the thought of camping and sleeping out in a tent when it is raining and going to be in the 40's sounds like h-e-double hockey sticks to me. I don't want to put a negative spin on camping as it is something I hope we can do more as a family. I just want her to have a little more practice with it first (and my husband is up to the challenge).

Though these mixed emotions exsist, I also know that as an introvert, I need to take advantage of this lovely gift my husband has given me. I need some 'me' time to recharge. I know some people would take better advantage of their night off from family and demands and go hit the town. Not me. I want to curl up on the couch in my PJ's with a book, a movie, a great dinner and give the cat some much needed attention (he doesn't talk much, so that's good).

I think as parents we feel like our lives should revolve around our kid(s) 24/7. This isn't fair, because as parents we still need to find a way to have some time to ourselves. Be it hanging out with girlfriends, or a wonderful plate of sauteed scallops and mushrooms that you get to savor in silence, we need to find a way to recharge and not forget ourselves. 

Thank you sweetie for carving out some time for me to relax. You know me so well, you didn't even suggest I invite a friend over or that I go out!