Mama in the City

The other month a couple of girlfriends from college asked me to join them on a weekend getaway to BC's wine country. They promised fun times, wine tastings and a chance to get away without the kids. I knew right away that my answer was going to be no. Not because I didn't want to join in the fun but because I feel that right now Josie is too young for me to leave her for a couple of days and nights.

Which is funny because I left Ben over night when he was 10 months old. My husband had gifted me with an overnight solo stay at a nice hotel as a Mother's Day treat. It turns out that everything worked out just fine; I ordered room service, watched movies from bed and check out at 8 AM and proceeded to run home. A month later my husband took me by surprise again and booked another solo hotel trip for me (I know! But just a FYI: this has only happened those 2 times). Off I left once again feeling giddy and excited about the prospect of sleeping all night long. I totally did not think twice about accepting the offer and leaving my baby for the night.

This time around I just don't have the same need to have a get away like I did with my first. It could be because my husband gives me chances to nap or sleep in on the weekends, or it could be because I feel like I feel like this time is fleeting. Eventually my maternity leave will end and a new complexity will be added to our family. Every day my baby grows and one day she won't need me so intensely. One day soon both of my babies will be children and leaving them for a weekend get away will be in the cards for me.

While, I'm not doing any overnight getaways right now I'm still enjoying evening date nights with my girlfriends and have had some really fun evenings over the last few months. Sometimes we go out for a fancy dinner and dress up, other times I'll go and lounge at their single girl apartment sipping rum and cokes. I've only gone to see one movie since Josie was born nearly 8 months ago and it was Magic Mike, so I'm not sure what that says about me? It's important to me to still maintain my friendships and I really love looking forward to these evenings together. Oh, how I do!

Of course I have some criteria around planning these nights out. My husband appreciates if 1 of the 2 (or both) is asleep before I leave, this just makes it easier for him. So, that means most of my evenings out start happening around 7:30 or later. Since Josie is (and probably will always be) anti bottle, I top her up just before I jet out the door. Currently I have about a 3 hour window to live it up sans children. As the baby gets older my chance for longer excursions will happen, so I'm pretty content with a 2-3 hour night out. Of course, I end up planning lots of these excursions in my own neighbourhood as to make use out of all of my time away. I'm so lucky to have friends who oblige and meet me close to home.

Last night I met up with my girlfriend at a restaurant downtown and I had a great time. Ben was so tired from a fun pool party earlier that day that day, so he was down for the count at 7 PM. I nursed the baby and swiped on some lipstick and headed out to meet up. A glass of wine and some dinner later we had told each other some good catch up tales and a shared a few giggles and than I headed home. Love, love, love nights out like these.

When did you have your first overnight getaway from your baby?