7 Reasons Moms Need a Weekend Getaway

Home Science Tools Banner
* This post may contain affiliate links or sponsored content. *

Did you like this article? If so, please help by sharing it!

Recently I had the opportunity to get away with a group of friends to a weekend retreat. This is the second year we’ve been able to get away together and it’s been heavenly both times. As an introvert who is constantly surrounded by people (even if they are my family), sometimes it’s really nice to get away with a small group for a couple of days.

7 Reasons Moms Need a Getaway Weekend

photo credit chris smith on flickr

Now, I’m not one to say that I have to get away from my kids to relax, but I do spend a lot of time with my family. The demands of taking care of a family, educating my children, running a home, and working from home can wear on a person after awhile. It’s a blessing for a mom to have the opportunity to get away with a group of friends from time to time.

Recharge

After a hectic week in the days before I left, I really thought I was going to need a week to recuperate after I got home from my weekend retreat. However, after a few days of being away from the demands of home with no meals to cook, no dishes to wash, no laundry taunting me, and no errands to run, I came home recharged (well, after a nap and a good night’s sleep) and ready to jump back into life as Mom.

Time away from responsibilities offers worn-out moms a chance to recharge and be better prepared to care for their family. It’s kind of like a twenty minute power nap on steroids.

photo 1

Create

My friends and I went to a place that is set up as a crafting retreat. There are eight stations for sewing, scrapbooking, and quilting with all the supplies you could ever hope to want for either.

And there is Wi-Fi. You know, for the lone blogger who shows up once a year.

I love that our group of friends has a nice mix of interests. One friend got several scrapbooking pages completed – and beat a level on Candy Crush that she’d been working on for weeks. {grin} Another worked on cross-stitch and a third worked on her quilt.

Another friend brought a bunch of fabric and left with a completed quilt! Seriously. I was so inspired that I thought I might have to try a quilt next time. I’ll need to learn to sew first.

photo 3

Oh, and the blogger left with four completed posts and a page full of notes from an online course. {ahem}

Be pampered

As moms, we spend a huge portion of our day-to-day lives meeting the needs of other people. I’m not complaining. That’s my job and I wouldn’t trade it for anything.  However, I’m not going to complain if someone wants to pamper me for a while.

I’m also really not going to complain if that pampering involves delicious, home-cooked meals with fruit and produce from the cook’s garden and fresh-baked bread that she just took out of her oven. And, homemade butter pecan ice cream. Just sayin’.

weekend getaway

Catch up

A weekend away can also offer moms a much-needed opportunity to catch up with one another. As busy as everybody is these days with activities, church, and family, time to hang out with friends can be at a premium. It’s nice to be able to sit around and chat, with no interruptions, and catch up with what’s going on in each other’s lives.

It was also a nice chance for me to catch up on some online tasks that had me feeling overwhelmed. After some focused work time, I actually feel like I might have a handle on things. Maybe. For awhile.

photo 2

Allow Dad and kids time

I bet a great many of you, like me, have husbands who are very involved with their families. Still, the family dynamics are different when Mom is away and I think those times are good for dads and their kids. When Mom’s away, things tend to happen that create special memories for dads and kids.

I know that when Brian was away a couple of weeks ago, I felt the need to do something special with the kids while he was gone and he often feels that way when I’m gone. I don’t know why, but I bet we’re not unusual in that. Even Brianna felt the need to do something special with Megan while I was gone.

So, I think that a weekend away for Mom is equally beneficial to the family left at home. It offers bonding time that isn’t necessarily there in the day-to-day.

Be appreciated

Another benefit of a weekend away for Mom is how appreciated you are when you return. Meals didn’t magically appear on the table while you were gone. Clean clothes didn’t magically appear in the dryer. (I’d say “in the drawer,” but I don’t ever get them that far.) People discover that the dishwasher door really can be opened by someone other than Mom and nothing terrifying happens when it’s opened.

After a few days of fending for themselves, eating Dad’s cooking (which looks a lot like fast food or a meal prepared by Grandma…you know, when you tell Grandma your sad story about how Mom has run away from home for the weekend), and taking care of the household chores themselves (under Dad’s direction or those things would probably go undone), everybody really appreciates Mom and all she does around the house. For a couple of days, anyway.

Appreciate

After being away from them for a few days, you really appreciate your family, too. Sometimes, it’s easy to forget what a gift they are when you’re referring sibling squabbles, picking up after them (or nagging them to do it), or the myriad of things you have to do as Mom.

Being away from them for a couple of days has a way of putting things back into perspective and you realize what a gift these years of mess, noise, and squabbles really are. They go by too quickly. Sometimes we need the reminder to enjoy them.

Do you ever go away for the weekend with your friends? What do you do? What do you enjoy most about your time away?

List_it_Tuesday


+ posts

Kris Bales is a newly-retired homeschool mom and the quirky, Christ-following, painfully honest founder (and former owner) of Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers. She has a pretty serious addiction to sweet tea and Words with Friends. Kris and her husband of over 30 years are parents to three amazing homeschool grads. They share their home with three dogs, two cats, a ball python, a bearded dragon, and seven birds.

Did you like this article? If so, please help by sharing it!

6 Comments

  1. This post is so timely! I am getting away this weekend with ladies from my church! Excited to have a change of atmosphere and work on a sketch book I haven’t touched in years 🙂

  2. Fantastic post. This is really depressing to admit, but I’ve been married for 17 years and homeschooling for 11. I’ve never gone away for a weekend or even overnight. My hubby is active duty and always gone or working and we have never lived near family before. We live 2.5 hours from his parents now but when I asked last year for them to watch the kids for the day so I could go to the homeschool convention, it was a no go. wow, that really is depressing!! Have a blessed day!!

    1. Some friends knew about it, but several groups of friends have subsequently done searches and found several similar locations. You could probably search “crafting retreats” and come up with something in your area.

  3. This is such a lovely post. I’m so glad you had a good time with your girlfriends. I know I treasure the time I have with my friends, but I have never gone away with them. I honestly don’t know how I’d react to that. I can’t stand being away from my kids and husband for a few hours let alone for days on end.
    I went off with one girlfriend for an overnight trip, and I went crazy being away from my family.

    Your reasons are legit and valid. Thanks for sharing a different perspective on the topic.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.