Take the Girls Trip

I always thought “Girls Trips,” after you have had three kids, were like unicorns and a gold pot at the end of a rainbow.  You’ve heard of them, they look and sound beautiful but you have never seen one in person, don’t think you ever will but the thought of them makes you smile.

Well, I did it, I took the magical girls trip.  One of my close girlfriends is getting married so our group of girlfriends couldn’t wait to plan a magical weekend to celebrate her. Our husbands were on board, we picked a date and a place and we made it happen.  

Yes, we went all out, we did matching shirts, we did matching hats, we coordinated.  

Going into the trip I think we all thought, what drama is going to happen when you put 11 girls in basically 4 hotel rooms mixed with the hot Florida sun and lots of champs to cool us down? 

You know what happened… FUN. This group of women in our mid to late 30s celebrated our friend and had a blast.  We relaxed, we went with the flow, we did each other’s hair and make-up, we ate great food and we danced off the calories we were consuming. We laughed, we laughed so much and are still laughing and smiling thinking about the memories we made.

On Sunday, we all hated to leave but we also were ready to get back to our babies.  This was the first time I had ever been away for more than a night from my 3 kids for pleasure since before my 8 old-year was born.  I was hesitant to come home, because I was tired from staying up way past my bedtime and consuming probably more than I needed in adult beverages, and I knew that 3 kids and a husband were waiting for me and I had to switch back into full mom mode.

When I arrived home the smiles on my family’s faces melted my heart.  My husband was so happy to see me but not to hand off the kids like I do when he arrives home from work, he was genuinely happy to see me. He had gone grocery shopping and was making dinner.  He had bought me my favorite wine.  He said the kids were great and that the weekend gave him a chance to have quality time with them without me. I think the weekend was great for all of us! 

I keep asking myself, why did I wait so long?  Was it the fear of missing time with my family?  Was it the mom guilt?  It was just what this mom needed.   It made me feel like myself again and I believe we all need some time to reconnect with the woman we are without children.  You don’t need to go crazy, maybe just a day at the beach with your girls. But take the time for yourself, I wish I had done it sooner!