In less than 12 hours I’ll be leaving my home, my husband and my kids and taking off with my friend for a girls’ night away. We will be gone for 24hrs, 26hrs at the very outside, yet I’ve done more preparation for this short trip than I did for our last family vacation, which saw us all away for the week, plus packing the dog off to the grandmother to be cosseted and also organising, collecting and bringing my parents with us!
How is this possible? How is it that when mam wants to get away from the lunacy for a short break that everything needs to be done, now, yesterday, immediately, it’s an emergency??? And to top it all off, I haven’t even begun packing for myself (luckily I’m not going to need much!)
Before I get a chance to go away I have to meticulously plan the work schedule – because we run our company from our home office, and I’m in charge of distributing jobs to all our sub-contractors, I’ve got to make sure that everything is planned well in advance; that everyone knows their schedule and the fact that I’m away and to please only call me in case of emergency, otherwise call The Hero who is manning the office alone in my absence; but I’ve also got to make sure that all my own work is done well in advance for tomorrow and the following day, because though we aim to be home before lunch, anything can happen and we need to be prepared for all contingencies (did I mention that I’m a Girl Guide leader ?)
So, after I’ve spent quite a few hours letting our subs and my regular clients know that I’ll be away for the day, and I’ve got all my own work up to date, and I’ve filled in the diary and gone through everything with The Hero, twice, to make sure he’s au fait with all our jobs for the next 24-48hrs, and it feels like all I have to do is pack and then I’m off, no, that’s merely the first part of my preparation done.
Next, I thought I’d just pack my bag and get ready to go – nope! Apparently this is the time that everyone needs my undivided attention, and all appear shocked at the prospect of being motherless or wifeless for 24hrs – though rest assured they all know about it, in fact we all spoke about it earlier in the day while we were out running errands and I made a detour to fill my tank so that it’s one less thing to worry about in the morning.
But now, there are clothes that have mysteriously gone missing and are a necessity for a play date in the morning; there are questions that need to be answered about what food they should eat; pick-up and delivery times for the girls’ schedules need to be reassessed, and there are chores that haven’t been completed because…well, for any reason that they can come up with, and the list goes on!
Sometimes it feels like they’re trying to keep me from leaving the house, from getting away from them all for a break, but thankfully I know that’s not true. I know that The Hero understands that I need some time away from work and from the family, some time with my friend to just laugh, chill out and relax. The girls understand that mam wants to spend some alone time with her friend, just like they get to do with their friends (they also understand that the guilt I’ll feel for leaving them all alone for 24hrs will require me to bring them home some gifts too, which helps soothe their soul) And I understand that I’m very lucky to have such a caring family who allow me this time to myself to relax and recharge.
guiltyworkingmam 