About two weeks ago while Jamie and I were lying in bed I confessed my wish for mother's day this year. I told him no chocolates, no flowers, not even a card; all I wanted was an afternoon off to do whatever I wanted by myself. "you got it, babe." was all he said, and boy did he deliver. From 10:00 on I had the whole day to myself to go anywhere and I didn't have to take anyone with me! I tell you, I felt like a sixteen year-old driving across town for the first time behind the wheel. The freedom was so exhilirating! I even claimed my own theme song for the day- New Soul by Yael Naim- and drove with my windows down and a dopey grin on my face. Aaaah. I'm not going to spend any energy justifying and defending how I do love my kids and being a mother and whatever. Everyone who knows me knows how devoted a mother I am, but once in a while a girl's gotta have a break. And I for one have especially always needed some alone time. It's how I refuel.
So how did I spend my time, you ask? I thought about shopping, pedicure, seeing a movie, and even taking my bood gookie (anyone ever read The River Why?) to Barnes and Noble to find a quiet corner to myself and spend the afternoon reading. It all sounded divine. Believe it or not, I mustered up the courage to call some ladies to meet me for lunch. To make the calls I had to wait until all my children were napping so I didn't have any background noise to distract. The turnout was amazing! So instead of eating alone, I had a delightful lunch full of fun conversation with some wonderful women. This may sound ridiculous, but I was surprised at how happy everyone seemed to be invited. Here I was nervous to ask them and playing the whatif game in my head, and as it turned out everyone was glad to be included in the plan. Big step for me! ... and of course I threw a little shopping in before and after lunch too! At the end of the day I was very happy to see my babies again. And he got me flowers anyway.
6 comments:
Sounds like the perfect Mother's Day gift if you ask me. You have no need to defend yourself or your mothering! Good Mom's are good becuase they get that time away to be themselves.
Man, I've asked for and gotten this gift before and let's just say it: It is THE BEST gift out there! What a day for you! I asked B and the kids to clean the fridge out and wash the dog for tomorrow. Funny how our priorities change!
By the way, Brandon is traumatized by the comment you left on my blog about him! He can't get past that you said, "really?" - even though you qualified it later. He hasn't stopped talking about it for the last 5 hours. Don't worry, I'm trying to explain!
Mel, it is great for me to stop by and read your thoughts every once in a while. You are still smart and beautiful and an inspiring mom - thanks.
Oooooh, we all need some alone time and girl time like that, no matter how much we love our little rug rats. Sounds like you had a wonderful time. I totally love when I get to drive in the car all by myself...blasting the music and not answering a million questions.
I know why you and I are friends Mel....I feel the same about time versus flowers, cards and stuff. I am proud of you for venturing out of your comfort zone. I did a similar thing this week (went over to meet a new neighbor-- so not like me), and I so enjoyed the visit. We ended up talking for over an hour!! Isn't it funny how everyone wants to be included, but it is just so hard to make that first step. Glad you did.
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