While I love, adore and wouldn’t be without my husband and children, there comes a time that I just need to get away from the madness and be a little selfish once in a while. When this happens I take off and live life the way I want without thinking of anyone else.
I believe one of the biggest sins we can commit against ourselves is not giving ourselves the space to just be; to simply breathe in solitude. After a stressful week of scrambling for alone time, when the weekend finally arrives, we should take some time for ourselves, engage in our favorite recreational activities, and just unwind for a bit.
For those of us who are too busy keeping up with the demands of daily life, it can be quite easy to lose sight of ourselves or not even know what we enjoy doing in our spare time anymore. In such cases, you can get inspiration online on blogs such as Talk Leisure, and similar others which offer an abundance of ideas that you can explore in order to relax during your free time.
That being said, here’s my top ways of being selfish at the weekends.
- Spa Break
The usual reason I take off and leave him in charge of the children is that everything is getting on top of me, and I have found the best way of recharging the batteries is a weekend away at a health spa with the girlies.
Relaxing massages, beauty and facial treatments, the likes of which include selecting the best facial spa services as well as soothing aromatherapy sessions, and long lie-ins coupled with time away with friends at the bar with some cocktails makes this the perfect selfish thing to do at the weekend.
- Husband and Wife Time
The yurt in Snowdonia Jack and I stayed in last summer – without the kids!
So far it looks as if I leave my husband out of my selfish activities despite involving others, but this isn’t always the case and he needs time away from the kids just as much as I do after a long week in the office on occasion. To resolve this once every two or three months we have a romantic weekend away to ourselves, with one of the plus sides to this being that the children get to spend time with their grandparents for a full weekend. You could even go to play some Laser Quest games!
The Eiffel Tower – our mini-break to Paris
We usually take a break to a European city such as Paris, Prague or Barcelona amongst many we have visited from a Friday evening for 48 hours where we see the sights, have romantic meals and walks and generally unwind before heading home rejuvenated and ready for the coming week.
- Children’s Playhouses
No, not the garden variety wooden constructs that take hours and hours to put together and, knowing my husband’s DIY skills, are very likely to cause a serious injury to one, or more, of the children. I am referring to the large buildings with vast playhouses that you can check your children into for 2/3 hours and get the chance to relax with other parents in the café area.
Not only do your children not realise that you’re being selfish by leaving them to their own devices in the ball pit and only massive slides, amongst other things available they are enjoying themselves and wearing themselves out so you can put them to bed nice and early to have a relaxing, enjoyable and, most importantly, quiet evening in front of the TV. The best part, our local emporium of fun for children only charges 4 per child for two hours and is the best value for wearing children out!
- Night Out with the Girls
While a Spa break is perfect for the whole weekend away, I don’t always get the chance to leave for the full weekend to blow off steam. The perfect compromise in this situation is to leave the children with the husband for an evening and night as I paint the town red with my best friends.
Someone drew the short straw…and it certainly wasn’t me!
Getting ready at a friend’s house with a few drinks and having a laugh with friends before heading out the door is my favourite part of the night. Once we hit a wine bar, and possibly a nightclub too, we’re all relaxed and having a great time to de-stress ourselves after a long week.
- Night In with the Girls
Sometimes it’s not possible for all the girls to get together, whether it due to money or babysitter issues, so we arrange to play games online together. Our favourite way of unwinding once we’ve put the kids to bed and send our husbands off to the pub with their mates is to fire up our laptops and visit our favourite online bingo site ButlersBingo.com to play some bingo and chat, and catch up in the chat rooms while having some friendly competition to win some money.
Our own personal rules for these nights is whoever takes the most winnings over the night buys the first round on our next night in town, so no-one really ends up as a loser!