Mommy Stay-cation

Over the past week I’ve taken a spring break of sorts – no, the kids aren’t out of school, no I didn’t have work off.

But in mind and body I’ve been on vacation.

Even though I was still meeting with more of the Utah CSA farmers and heading into the office, I let the rest of my responsibilities fall to the wayside.

• Running – no.
• Freelance Work – no.
• Blogging – no.

The result? A ton of extra time that I was able to spend reconnecting with myself, my kids, my husband and one of my closest friends who was here visiting from Anchorage.

It was so nice to be able to focus in on my “regular work” and then enjoy the free time exploring the neighborhood and just relaxing.

If you don’t have a whole lot of money to spend on vacation or a spring break getaway, let me suggest this:

Take a week or even just a few days that aren’t a part of your kids spring break – a week early, a week late, in the middle of the year, whenever. Either request work off entirely or leave an hour or two early on those days. Since I don’t have PTO and our daycare costs the same regardless of pick up time, I worked my regular schedule but left the kids a bit longer than usual for these days. Then didn’t even know that the pick up time was later than normal and so they didn’t feel abandoned or left out of anything.

Grab a drink with a friend, meet your husband for dinner, go shopping in a local boutique without worrying the kids are going to break more things than you can afford.

I did all of the above – all without losing an hour of pay or spending a fortune on a babysitter!

My little secret: selfish time is an investment in family time.

Being a good mom, good wife, and good friend all require that I carve out some time for myself – time that I get to do those things which make me happy and aren’t a part of my chore list. Selfish time that renews and refreshes me so that when I’m back to those responsibilities, kids, and chores I am that fun, cool mom that I want to be and not a stressed, tired and frustrated mom that’s counting down to bed time.

Grown up spring break! Every mom should do it.

So, what exactly have I been up to?

Wednesday:

• Nick and I met up for a quick dinner at MacCool’s

Thursday:

• Farm visits with Petersen Family Farm in Riverton and La Nay Ferme in Provo

• Picking my friend up from the airport
• Interview with Weber State’s Special Collections curator

Friday:

• Early dinner at Tona

Saturday:

• River walk at the Ogden River Parkway

• Hike along Bonneville Shoreline (first one of the season!!)
• Birthday Party at Alleged’s Rooftop Bar (it’s not actually open yet)

• Preschool Date Night with the Kids
• Golfing at El Monte
• Brewski’s for St. Paddy’s and The Shakers

Sunday:

• Brunch at Roosters

• Park City Shopping Spree!
• Dinner at Sonora Grill
• Drinks and live music at Slackwater

Monday morning I was back to work and today I drove my lovely friend down to the airport for her next business trip before she heads back up to Anchorage…

Just like that and it’s back to reality!

I’m spending the day catching up on some freelance projects before I head out for a run and then meet Mackenzie for baseball practice.

Question of the Day:

Have you ever taken a mommy stay-cation? Do you need one?