For Christmas one of my gifts from my husband was a night at a hotel alone. Not the two of us alone – just me. Doing whatever I want whenever I want, eating my favorite foods without having to share, and sleeping through the night without a single interruption. It was the perfect gift for this mom of young kids and since this would make an amazing Mother’s Day gift, I thought this would be a great time to share my experience.
A night alone might sound like a terribly strange gift, but I bet if you have babies or toddlers, you understand. My youngest was 7 months old at the time and wasn’t sleeping through the night. (And sadly still isn’t.) And my 3 year old was in a bit of a destructive phase where he couldn’t be trusted to be out of my sight. So a night completely alone sounded like heaven.
And it was – though there were a few hiccups along the way.
I didn’t travel to anywhere interesting or do anything fancy – I just found a good deal on a nice local hotel, packed a bag (and my breast pump), and left that evening when my husband got home from work. I picked up some of my favorite takeout and then settled in for the night. I didn’t do anything special – mostly I just munched on my favorite snacks and enjoyed some trashy TV. It was pure bliss. Not a single interruption to go help someone on the potty or pick up a crying baby. No long bedtime routines to perform. And all of my stuff stayed exactly where I put it.
The only problems were breastfeeding related. My wonderful night of sleep wasn’t interrupted by a baby crying, but was sadly interrupted by my own body. I pumped right before going to bed but still woke up before six very uncomfortable. So sleeping in didn’t exactly work out the way I had hoped, but I did still get to wake up on my own which was an improvement.
The second part of the problem was my baby had decided this was the perfect time for a bottle strike. When I called home that morning to check in, my poor husband had hardly slept and the baby had hardly drunk anything. The plan was for me to have the rest of the day to myself, but there was no way I could enjoy my day with my baby at home hungry and miserable. So I swung home and nursed him before heading out for the day. It actually worked out well because I was also able to drop off the milk I had pumped. I had placed it in an insulated bag full of ice from the hotel, but it was still nice to not have to worry about it.
After that brief visit home, I spent the next few hours browsing in local antique stores. I love looking for great vintage stuff for our home but never go there with kids – way too many things that can break. Then I headed home for a nice dinner out with the family.
Even though things didn’t work out exactly the way I imagined, it was still one of the best gifts I have received in a long time.
hostess / wonderful honeydew / 32460 posts
hahah a night alone in a hotel doesn’t sound odd to me at all.
I just got back from a 2 night, 3 day momcation with some of my friends. this is our 3rd year momcationing and it was wonderful.
pomegranate / 3225 posts
Love this
kiwi / 558 posts
Sounds wonderful!
blogger / cherry / 174 posts
This sounds fantastic!
blogger / nectarine / 2010 posts
I thought this is what I wanted for Mother’s Day, but really I want the house to myself for a weekend so I can do some major spring cleaning. I want them to all go away!
admin / watermelon / 14210 posts
i took a momcation but tried to do too many things instead of relax. next time i’m just going to relax!
wonderful cherry / 21504 posts
This is exactly what DH suggested for Mother’s Day but we are in a bottle strike too- I don’t think I could enjoy myself at this point.
persimmon / 1281 posts
This is exactly what I’m doing this weekend for Mother’s Day! Although I’m going home in the morning, not spending the day out. I’m down to one MOTN feed so I’m hoping I can pump around 10 (I normally pump at 8:30pm before heading to bed) and last until the morning. And then maybe go back to sleep
blogger / persimmon / 1225 posts
Love this idea!
cherry / 108 posts
I dream of this day!
lol
blogger / nectarine / 2600 posts
Wow sounds amazing!
guest
sounds incredible
GOLD / apricot / 341 posts
In the fall, when my youngest was almost 18 months old, my bestie and I went away for 3.5 days. We actually flew all the way from Stockholm to New York and at first it felt so dumb to go so far, but then we woke up in NYC, in a different time zone than our children and it helped somehow to be so far away. The best part was eating when we were hungry instead of when the kids were eating or constantly on the go…
guest
Doesn’t sound odd to me at all. I actually asked for this for Mother’s day because a sleep in and no whiney kids demanding breakfast at 6:30am sounds like heaven to me. However, I haven’t heard anything from hubby about it, but oh my — it would be joyous (and then I’d go out for brunch by myself and come home totally refreshed and a much happier mommy)!
nectarine / 2821 posts
you’ve got everyone who reads this fantasizing now!
blogger / cherry / 222 posts
@chopsuey: That sounds like so much fun! Hopefully once the baby is weaned, I can go on a longer trip.
blogger / cherry / 222 posts
@Mrs. Stroller: Yes! I loved going away for the night but a weekend (or even a night) in my own home totally alone would be the best. Then you can clean, do house projects, or just enjoy sleeping in your own bed!
blogger / cherry / 222 posts
@Mrs. Bee: Definitely! It is so tempting to try to do everything. But I’ve found relaxing makes you feels the best when it is over!
@Foodnerd81: I totally understand. It is ironic that when you most need a break, it is the hardest to take one!
@Portboston: Yay! Enjoy your night!
blogger / cherry / 222 posts
@Mini Piccolini: This sounds amazing! Some day…
guest
This sounds like heave. I dream of this day.
guest
heaven i mean.
blogger / apricot / 367 posts
What a great idea!!
pomegranate / 3393 posts
Sounds amazing!
guest
Sounds heavenly!