Take time off. The world will not fall apart without you.

Malebo Sephodi

This past weekend was our planned girls(moms)-only trip with 2 out of my 3 sisters and my sister in law. It was a trip we had begun planning back in April of this year, a trip that my mom wanted to take back when she was alive but we now fulfilled in memory of her. This trip was the first time that I had ever left my girls alone with Josh for the night. That’s 4 years of me not having a break from them, despite knowing that it was needed. To be honest I was reluctant to even consider taking this trip, I felt guilty and nervous even though I knew my husband is perfectly capable of taking care of them, I mean they are just as much his kids as they are mine. But I was struggling with this sense of guilt, I felt excited for going on a vacation and guilty for being excited.

To be perfectly honest the trip was fantastic. I got to bond with my sisters, two of which live out of state and I essentially only get to see on special occasions. I learned things I never knew before and I recharged on a physical, emotional, and spiritual level. It was a vacation filled with walks on the beach, prayer, girl-talk and chick flicks. It was only one of the first times I feel I actually came back from a vacation relaxed and recharged instead of more exhausted than when I left.

One of the things that really stuck with me was my sister who said that she took similar trips like this or even just a day or few hours away from her kids when they were younger for the specific reason of letting her recharge.

I take these trips to become a better mother.

It wasn’t until I came home that I realized the accuracy of that statement. Toddlers are tough, they’re tough to raise and tough to handle and when your patience is already running on threads that are barely holding on, it is very easy to forget that they are in fact toddlers. It is easy to catch yourself beginning to expect a 4 year old to have the understanding of someone two or three times their age instead of taking the time to explain something and teach them what they are trying to learn. This vacation has been a big eye-opening reminder of that and I hope that I can continue going forward with that reminder to become a better mother and teach for my girls. I am relaxed and recharged and ready to go.