by Shadra Bruce
I am renewed. Happy. Joyous, even. I think my blood pressure is even lower.
Why?
Because my husband and I just escaped our normal routine and responsibility to spend six days away from home. Six glorious days away from work, phone calls, client demands, and most of all…children.
I know, this is a MOM site. Children are to be revered and honored, right?
So what am I doing celebrating six glorious days without my kids?
It’s those small escapes that make me a good mom. I feel guilty about leaving them, even though they are in the best of hands with their older (adult) sister. I lose sleep over the thought of something bad happening while we’re gone, even though we take every precaution to make sure there are plenty of people around to help if that were to happen.
But I go anyway.
You should too, you know. Getting away from your kids makes you appreciate them more. And you can appreciate being a mom more when you remember what it’s like to be a wife, a woman, and uncluttered from diaper bags, demands, and discipline issues.
When Dave and I celebrated our 10th anniversary in 2009, we went to Montreal to celebrate. Our daughter Kira offered to babysit the kids for a long weekend so that we could get away. It was so amazing that we decided to make it an annual thing. Last year, we went back for five days and spent the whole time wandering Old Montreal and eating at our favorite restaurants.
This year, we stayed at a quaint boutique hotel around the corner from our favorite Montreal bistro, La Marche de la Villette. We ate croissants every morning for breakfast. We walked, we talked, we held hands. We rekindled our romance. It was amazing.
We couldn’t do it without Kira. She’s like a second mom to the kids and has babysat them since they were born. We sweeten the deal for her these days with cash rewards and free car insurance, but it’s totally worth it. You really should try it, even if you just stay at the hotel in the next town.