Moms Night Out

At the beginning of this year, I joined a mom's group that meets a couple times a month. It was both liberating and terrifying - leaving my then 19-month old with provided childcare was the first time I had ever left her with someone other than her grandparents, and I was 5 months pregnant so my hormones encouraged me to be overly sensitive. Unexpectedly, my daughter did just fine and barely seemed to miss me at all (I'll admit I felt a bit of disappointment that she didn't miss me more ... and then realized how silly that reaction was to her doing so well).

Anyway - a smaller group of us got together last night for dinner, and I experienced that same bit of disappointment when I got home ... not only did my husband do all the dishes from dinner, but both kids were peacefully slumbering and evidently gave him no trouble at all. I came home to a house of calm and quiet. Upon reflection, I am grateful that they all did so well without me here, rather than allowing myself to be bummed out that they didn't have a harder time sans mom.

I'm realizing the importance of taking time for myself - I've always known this and struggled with feeling guilty if I took too much time away from my daughter after she was born. About the time I got over that, and was greatly enjoying sleeping through the night (the best me-time I can think of), our baby boy was born and I feel as if I'm starting all over with it. Today, I am tired - having gone to bed at 11 pm, instead of my usual 9:30. Was the time spent with other moms, without children or husbands, worth it? Absolutely. Did I think about my family the whole time I was away? I sure did. Being a mom has changed me, as I think it does most of us.