I didn't have a weekend alone, but I recently had a business trip, aka chore vacation, to southern California. It was the first time I was away from my two elementary school boys and toddler twins since they were born two years ago.
Not having to do dishes, scrub floors, make breakfasts, or pack lunches was glorious. But after a couple days, that old realization hit me (the same one I've had on previous chore vacations): I'm not where I'm supposed to be, and it's time to go home. I've found this happens no matter the chore vacation destination.
Love this! Though I’ve found that the expectation of a solo trip often outweighs the reality. I recently went away for four nights for work, and while everyone kept telling me to ‘enjoy the peaceful sleep,’ my co-sleeping brain had other plans. I spent the whole time waking up every hour instinctively searching for my toddler. #SoloParentingFail. Your writing is such a joy to read. Thanks for sharing!
72 hours solo with two under three feels like science fiction right now. The closest I get is two hours at the gym while both kids are in daycare. But even that window changed something. The first 30 minutes I'm still mentally on the clock. By minute 45 the noise settles. That's when I actually think.
You're right that giving yourself space to think is where the real stuff happens. I just didn't expect a Lifetime daycare to be where I found it.
The part about solving months-long problems in a single weekend made complete sense to me. The problems aren't harder to solve. You're just never alone with them long enough. Even with all the systems and routines I run my life through, the clearest thinking still happens when I'm away from the routine. Space isn't a luxury. It's the actual mechanism.
I didn't have a weekend alone, but I recently had a business trip, aka chore vacation, to southern California. It was the first time I was away from my two elementary school boys and toddler twins since they were born two years ago.
Not having to do dishes, scrub floors, make breakfasts, or pack lunches was glorious. But after a couple days, that old realization hit me (the same one I've had on previous chore vacations): I'm not where I'm supposed to be, and it's time to go home. I've found this happens no matter the chore vacation destination.
Love this! Though I’ve found that the expectation of a solo trip often outweighs the reality. I recently went away for four nights for work, and while everyone kept telling me to ‘enjoy the peaceful sleep,’ my co-sleeping brain had other plans. I spent the whole time waking up every hour instinctively searching for my toddler. #SoloParentingFail. Your writing is such a joy to read. Thanks for sharing!
72 hours solo with two under three feels like science fiction right now. The closest I get is two hours at the gym while both kids are in daycare. But even that window changed something. The first 30 minutes I'm still mentally on the clock. By minute 45 the noise settles. That's when I actually think.
You're right that giving yourself space to think is where the real stuff happens. I just didn't expect a Lifetime daycare to be where I found it.
The part about solving months-long problems in a single weekend made complete sense to me. The problems aren't harder to solve. You're just never alone with them long enough. Even with all the systems and routines I run my life through, the clearest thinking still happens when I'm away from the routine. Space isn't a luxury. It's the actual mechanism.