Olive accidentally bit me so hard while nursing in her sleep last week, it drew a lot of blood and left me in serious pain. Sorry for the visual, but it did hurt as much as you’re thinking since she’s 18 months old and has all her teeth! I couldn’t even use a pump to give myself a break from breastfeeding since I’d already given it away 2 weeks ago. I was in so much pain, and not just where she bit me, that I thought I might actually have mastitis. My doctor ruled out mastitis but thought the sharp shooting pains I was experiencing might be thrush. I was pretty sick for a couple of days and I don’t know if it was thrush or an infection, but I’m all better now that I took a little momcation this past weekend.

I’ve been really stressed out lately, plus I needed a break from nursing Olive to heal, so Mr. Bee kept urging me to take the weekend off. But putting both kids down alone is difficult, plus I’m the only one who can put Olive down at night anyway, so I didn’t think I could go away for an entire weekend. Then we came up with the idea for me to leave after putting Olive down on Friday night, and returning before bedtime on Saturday night. It was a completely last minute decision, but I booked a hotel at 8:30pm Friday night, and headed off for my momcation in Manhattan after putting Olive down.

Here’s what I did on my 20 hour momcation, and what I would do differently next time:


view of Central Park and the city from the hotel’s indoor rooftop pool

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I checked sites like Priceline and Hotwire for last minute hotel deals. I ultimately booked the Le Parker Meridian in midtown Manhattan because of its convenient location, and because it had an indoor pool, spa, and a restaurant inside the hotel. Since I didn’t have much time, I didn’t want to have to move from place to place. I packed an overnight bag, a bottle of wine, some snacks, and arrived at the hotel at 10:45pm. Had I planned this ahead of time, I could have arrived earlier and perhaps caught a movie. Once I checked in, I took a long, hot shower. It’s amazing how even an uninterrupted shower is a luxury when you have two kids — Charlie tries to barge into the bathroom anytime we’re in it! Then I ate my snacks, drank wine, and watched a lot of bad tv. It was glorious. I thought I would get a good night’s sleep, but alas my body is too used to waking up early so I was up by 7am.

I went downstairs and had breakfast at the hotel’s award winning restaurant – Norma’s. I’ve been here on several occasions in the past, and if you ever visit, the french toast is truly decadent. But I was in an eggs kind of mood so I got eggs benedict over pancakes.

After breakfast it was time for my full-body massage at the hotel spa, followed by the steam sauna, and a dip in the indoor rooftop pool. It was such a relaxing trifecta. The Le Parker Meridian also has a gym, drybar (hair salon where you can only get blowouts), and a nail salon.

After a shower, I put on makeup — another luxury when you work from home and have two kids! I probably put on makeup once every 2 months. I checked out of my room by 1pm and had the front desk hold my duffle bag.


midtown skyscrapers

I wanted to check out a museum because enjoying a museum isn’t something you can really do with two young kids.


walking to the museum on the upper eastside

It was a gorgeous spring day. Central Park was right across from the Guggenheim museum, so I decided to pop in for a little stroll.

Cherry blossom trees were in bloom….

And magnolias too.


I used the panoramic setting on my iphone for the first time.

This walk was so peaceful and relaxing, I wish I had spent most of my afternoon walking around the reservoir instead of going to the museum. It was just me and my thoughts and I didn’t have a worry in the world, if only for a couple of hours.

Then I went to the Guggenheim to check out the Gutai exhibit.

I love the Met and the MOMA, but the Guggenheim is a smaller museum that was perfect for the limited time I had.


This exhibit featured colored water in plastic, suspended across the museum.

Afterwards, I stopped by Bloomingdale’s to do a little shopping, but I was so tired that I just bought the one thing I needed (tinted moisturizer) and left.

I’d planned to end the day with a pedicure because I knew my feet would be tired from all that walking.

After my pedicure, I picked up my bag from the hotel, hopped on the train, and headed back home to Brooklyn. This was the first time Mr. Bee had both kids all day, and everything went great except for Charlie’s meltdown just before I arrived. Mr. Bee was understandably pretty pooped, but I was energized so I put Olive then Charlie down to bed.

I only got one hour of sleep that night (I’ve been battling insomnia lately), but I still had enough energy to take the kids on a little adventure to the Brooklyn Bridge playgrounds the next day. Patience with the kids is something I struggle with daily, but I found that I had much more patience after my momcation.


Charlie loved this climbing structure


Practicing walking on sand. Olive is finally walking at 18 months!


Sleeping together underneath a magnolia tree after an activity-packed morning

It really didn’t matter what I did while I was gone. Mr. Bee reminded me that when you take a momcation, it’s the absence of being responsible for anyone other than yourself that makes it relaxing. I didn’t have to worry about playing with the kids, feeding them, cleaning up after them, putting them down for naps…. I think I could have just stayed in bed and watched tv all day, and that still would have been a great momcation.

I tried to do too many things because I was so excited at the prospect of being away overnight from the kids for the first time. We’ve really cut back on all our expenses this year so I was able to splurge a little, but next time I’m going to keep it much simpler. Maybe I’ll stay with a friend, but I’ll definitely do something nature-related again, as that walk in Central Park was absolutely invigorating.

I think regular momcations may be a necessity for me now. I definitely feel more relaxed, patient, and refreshed, which makes me a better wife and a better mom. Plus there’s nothing hotter than your significant other taking care of the kids, and that makes me appreciate Mr. Bee a million times more.

Have you ever taken a momcation? What would you do on your momcation?