Oh, Honestly!

Real Life for Real Moms

What Moms Do When Their Kids Are Away

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I considered making the only thing in this post the following:

Whatever. We. Want.

But then I thought I should chronicle my time when the kids are gone this weekend because it’s a strange mixture of thoughts, feelings, and actions that are reminiscent of, yet completely different from, what we used to do before we had kids.

What Moms Do When Their Kids Are Away

What Moms Do When Their Kids Are Away

So here’s a quick rundown for you. I’d love to know if any of you can relate:

Friday

4:30 pm: Say goodbye to kids. Hug, kiss, tell them to have fun, be good, etc. Two are near tears and one is claiming he won’t have any fun if I’m not there. Feel equal parts Guilt, Excitement, and Joy (guilt because they’re sad, excitement because two days alone!!, and joy because it’s nice to know they still love me despite the fact that I was a total hag to them the night before).

4:50 pm: Blast the radio, throw back a fistful of M&Ms, and get this party started.

5:00 pm: When I said ‘get this party started’ I meant ‘start cleaning like a crazy person because IT’S GONNA STAY CLEAN FOR TWO WHOLE DAYS!!!!!!!!!’

6:30 pm: Go out to dinner with friends.

8:30 pm: Leave the restaurant. Feel shock at the fact that we ate dinner so late.

9:00 pm: Spend the rest of the night doing what we do every night: On the couch, watching TV.

 

Saturday

6:30 am: Up for the day. Coffee, toast, computer. Keep listening for little footsteps.

8:26 am: Hubby gets up. I laugh that he didn’t even make it to 8:30. Before kids, he’d easily sleep until 10 or 11.

12:00 pm: Run errands I’ve put off for weeks and weeks because I didn’t feel like dragging the kids along.

1:00 pm: Meet brother-in-law and sister-in-law for lunch. Eating out twice in one weekend with no kids?!

3:00 pm: Back home. Put on sweats.

5:30 pm: Dreaming of ice cream for the past hour. Figure I should eat dinner first.

6:00 pm: Hmm, I’m kind of bored.

6:07 pm: I should clean the Bonus Room.

6:47 pm: Done with the Bonus Room.

7:00 pm: It’s really boring without the kids here.

8:00 pm: Call the kids. They’re already in bed.

9:00 pm: Watch a movie with hubby. Think how nice it is to spend time together without distractions.

10:45 pm: Go to bed.

 

Sunday

7:00 am: Wow, I slept in!

9:00 am: Mom calls to say the roads are bad because of snow. They can keep the kids longer if we want them to.

9:05 am: Drive an hour through a snow storm.

10:00 am: Reunited (and it feels so good!).

 

Moral of the story: It was an awesome weekend and much needed, but I couldn’t be happier to have my kids home.

About Lauren

If you enjoy picture-perfect home decor, perfectly prepared recipes, and perfectly behaved children, you've come to the wrong place. Meet Lauren. She isn't perfect, but she's perfectly real.

Comments

  1. Jaime says

    Isn’t it funny that no matter how much you pull out your hair when your kids are around, but as soon as they leave for any amount of time, you have no idea what to do. =P

  3. Tove Stakkestad says

    Wow – I would have felt MUCH the same… I wouldn’t even know what to do with two nights without kids. The most we have gone is 24 hours and I get all kinds of antsy and grumpy. Good for you – I hope your house is messy again.

    • Lauren says

      I think it’s good for us. I always have a lot more patience when we’re back together again (and let me tell you, it was in short supply when they left).

  7. nicolette says

    This makes me want to cry. You got two whole days kid free?! And you cleaned? The empowered writer in me wants to shake you by the shoulders and say, “You mean you don’t have any hobbies or pursuits you are working towards other than cleaning up after your kids?” And then the Mom in me goes, “Screw the cleaning. I am going to go work out, as slowly as possible to make it last as long as possible. And I’m going to eat whatever I want that nobody else likes. And i am going to work on my work as much as I can because it’s quiet. And forget meeting people for lunch – I AM ALONE!” lol (Yep, I need a two day weekend to myself!)

    • Lauren says

      My hobby is writing and I did plenty of that. I wouldn’t have enjoyed it as much if the house was trashed, so it was nice to power through that and know they wouldn’t be behind me destroying everything! I did eat whatever I wanted too, so that was nice, but working out didn’t even enter my mind, haha. One of these days my lack of exercise is going to bite me in the butt…

  8. Echo says

    This is so me, lol. Whenever the kids are gone I am like, “Woo-hoo! I am going to party and sleep in and have fun!”. Nope, I am still up early, party means cleaning and organizing and having fun means I might take a nap!

  9. Kristen says

    7am on a Sunday is TOTALLY sleeping in! Surprised you didn’t hit the spa or get a mani/pedi!! So jealous…I’ve haven’t done that in TWO years!

  10. Becky says

    Sweet post, Lauren but if you ever do that again, just try to think of it as training for when they really do all leave your nest. It is hard! Thanks for sharing.

    • Lauren says

      It’s funny you say that. On Saturday night I was thinking how nice it was to spend time with my husband and how much I enjoy it. Then I thought, “I think this means we’ll be okay when the kids grow up. We’ll still enjoy being together and will have commonalities beyond our kids.” When you’re in the midst of all the craziness of young kids, it’s easy to put your marriage on the back burner, but it’s important to remember the reasons you got together in the first place.

  12. Caryn says

    We haven’t done this yet and it’s been six years. I love that you were excited to sit on the couch and watch TV…that would totally be us. And in terms of sleeping in – I’m not sure I could make it past 8:30am, too.

    • Lauren says

      Yeah, we’ve never been big on going out and ‘living it up’. We used to go out sometimes before we had kids, but even then we were more content to stay in, have people over, play games, etc.