When we were trying to plan a Girlfriends Getaway a few months ago, I offered up my house for the weekend. With my kids at college, we had enough spare bedrooms and sofas to accommodate whoever could make it, and the D.C. area is a great place to visit. I blacked out my work calendar over Veteran’s Day weekend, my friends bought plane tickets, and we started making lists of the fun things we could do.
As I was plowing through my to-do list last Thursday, I got a rare phone call from my son.
I want to come home this weekend.
Why?
I have a big paper due Wednesday, and I want to come home to work on it.
~silence~
Um, …. you can’t. I’ve got friends coming from out of town and I’ve offered up your bedroom.
~silence~
Luckily for all of us, my mom is the best grandmother ever. Not only was she happy for my son to stay with her for the weekend (with a quiet room, comfortable bed, and home-cooked meals), she was willing to pick him up on Friday evening.
He came by the house Friday night long enough to drop off his laundry and visit with Tiger Lilly. While I felt bad about not being able to spend time with my son, I had a great weekend with my friends. On Saturday, we played tourists at the National Mall.
We came across a Buddhist ceremony in front of the Capitol.
We enjoyed the exhibits at the Hirshhorn.
On Sunday, we visited Great Falls, Maryland.
We got to see some kayakers go down the falls.
We hiked the Gold Mine Loop.
And between the sight-seeing, shopping, eating, hiking, talking, and laughing, I managed to do my son’s laundry.
Each load of laundry assuaged a bit of my guilt.
How do you overcome the “mommy guilt” when you take time to have with your friends?
![The Ultimate Coffee Date](http://got2run4me.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Ultimate-Coffee-Date.png" "The Ultimate Coffee Date")
oh
you so had me at the fact our kids ARE BOOMERANGS and they come back.
I needed to see this today 🙂
IM WORKING ON THE WINGS…when I wanna focus on roots 🙂
I loved going home on weekends in college (so nice to be 20 miles away). Many times I'd just go home to sleep – and don't actually remember bringing laundry home.
It looks as though mommy guilt doesn't have an expiration date. Glad you had a fun weekend with your friends.
It sounds like a good weekend! Your son has a lot of socks!
Yes, he does have a ton of socks! Since he was home for fall break a few weeks ago, I am guessing he went through at least two pairs a day (with sports).
I'm not a mom but I did go to college and knew what it was like to come home all the time! You definitely deserve to have your own time though! That was great for your mom to give him a place to stay! Thats all that matters! (: