Momma needs a vacation
Parenting is hard, very hard. Momming is hard. Like, scientifically difficult. Dad's have it bad too. But momming is super hard. During one particularly hard week, maybe it was a perfect storm of work and familial stress, I decided that I needed some downtime. Over multiple days. On my own. I communicated this to my loving partner, (I am sure I did it in a calm, empathy inducing way), and he agreed that a vacation was in order.
I needed adventure, to be alone, to worry about myself and my own needs. To put myself first instead of 5th or 6th after my husband, baby, dog, job, extended family, etc. And I am not the only one, Americans desperately need time off to unplug, unwind and relax. So, I did it. I used SkyScanner to determine the least expensive places for me to visit October 12-16 and chose one of the bottom 3.
Barcelona!
I planned my trip terribly. A friend based in the UK and familiar with Barcelona planned the whole trip and I essentially showed up. I am so thankful that she not only loves me enough to vacation with me but that she took the time out of her busy schedule to plan this for us. She booked us a lovely two bedroom flat with a gorgeous roof deck and my favorite, a full kitchen! We cooked 1-2 meals a day, and conducted ourselves at a leisurely pace. We only did one sight-seeing thing per day, spending most of our time wandering the city on foot. We shopped at a flea market, stopped in at many an adorable bar and cafe, ate delicious vegan food all over the city, and stayed out late. It was fabulous and freeing and it was exactly what I needed to reset.
I was only gone for a long weekend, 4 nights total. In hindsight I should have booked a longer trip. I booked the 4 nights due to some lingering guilty feelings of leaving my family. 4 nights was better than nothing thought. When I came home I was happier, I missed my family and I was energized and rested making me better able to be a kick ass wife, mother and even employee.
I hope that Sean and I can find a way to give each other an annual, solo, break or a baby-free vacation together. I really do believe that doing so is not selfish but the right thing to do if we want to continue to give it our all the rest of the year.