The first time I was away from my firstborn overnight he was five months old. He was eating baby cereal, but still nursing a lot. It was a big deal to hand him to my mom and get in our vehicle knowing I would be gone all night.
My mother was totally calm about the whole thing and took my millions of minute instructions with graciousness. By the third child I’d just hand mom the baby and diapers and say bye without a single instruction. Either way the kids – and my mom – were fine…not so sure about my dad.
What prompted me to leave my child? A yearly tradition with my husband. It’s called our wedding anniversary. We had celebrated 5 before that night and I love my husband more than my children. That night should have proved it to him, although I’m guessing he wondered if I would actually leave without the baby. I know that I talked about the baby a lot that night. Don’t tell anyone, but he talked about the baby too.
My wonderful husband had hunted down a hotel with a jacuzzi that was not crazy expensive. We had to drive 20-30 minutes away; not so close to just run and get the baby, but not too far in case the baby really needed me. Plus, it got us out of the bigger city area, hence the better price.
We’ve kept up the tradition through the years thanks to my husband’s insistence. Some years I protested about the money for something that was not really necessary. Some years I was overwhelmed with joy to be away from the kids for one whole night! This year I don’t think I would have made it through the past week without that special time the weekend before. I’ve even stopped feeling guilty about it. Besides, I like bologna sandwiches and mac & cheese.
We hit the jackpot this time because when we walked in we saw this:
They had given us a suite! It was the same Best Western we had gone to before. No extra charge. No special asking. We have to remember Room 226.
We did not take the laptop, but we did take the iPods and they had excellent wireless! I haven’t been that caught up on reading blogs in a very long time! The major disappointment was that they had no cocoa in their breakfast area. I made sure I told them about it in their survey.
Have you stayed in a hotel that’s not far from your house? Did it feel like sheer indulgence to you?
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