About two weeks ago, I looked at Shuie and said, “It’s not going to happen today, but at some point very soon I am going to hit a wall. Between work, kids, house and life as we know it, we are looking at major meltdown material here”.
So, we put our heads together and came up with the following solution: Mommy gets a night away, ALONE, and then takes the next day off.

Well, last night and today were Mom’s Great Escape. I spent last night in a hotel about 5 minutes from my house, nothing fancy, but little-Bochner-free. As I stepped into my top-floor room with a fabulous view of Rt. 70, I exhaled so deeply, it was as if I’d been holding my breath for months. After a hot bath and some writing time, I slid into bed for a full night’s sleep, with no commercial interruptions. Bliss. Today, Shuie surprised me with a spa day, and I mean the full sha-bang: massage, facial, mani/pedi, waxing and haircut. I felt like a queen, and came home invigorated and excited to see all of my boys.

I tell you all this not to show off, but to illustrate a VERY important point. MOMS NEED TIME OFF. This was something I didn’t get completely until today; I didn’t realize how worn out I was until I stepped out of the storm. I guess it had to get pretty desperate, because despite the strain, asking for this time to myself was a challenge for me on par with hiking Everest. I felt guilty for leaving my boys, for spending money “frivolously”, and for asking Shuie to take on everything for 24 hours, alone. But it all comes back to the Oxygen Mask Philosophy: When the plane’s going down, you put your OWN mask on first, because if you’ve got no oxygen, your kids are going without it, too. In this case, if I didn’t take time for myself and treat myself with something special, I would not have had the energy, patience or appreciation for the demands I juggle each day.

My dear friend Danielle has recruited me to join a Gratitude email group. Each night, we send each other 10-15 things for which we are grateful, and they have to be good ones. This is an important exercise for me because it is so easy to get caught up in everything I don’t have, start feeling sorry for myself, and if things get bad enough, justify picking up the food or the drugs or the alcohol (”If you had my problems, you’d eat/drug/drink too”.). It’s amazing what a concerted effort to find things to be grateful for can do for my attitude; it’s like a makeover for your soul. Even if I’m cranky, anxious, frustrated or just fried, I can end my day knowing that, fundamentally, all is well. So today, I am grateful to be able to share that with you on my blog, and I’m grateful for all of you out there who read it.

Speaking of reading, did you happen to read my new article, featured on the homepage of Aish.com? Here’s the link:http://www.aish.com/f/p/104758409.html.

Enjoy!