Mommy's Night Off

I finally convinced Nate that being a stay at home mom is harder than he seems to think it is. He finally believes (for whatever reason) that being on duty 24 hours a day 7 days a week is very grinding. As a result, we've started doing "nights off." Usually it's Mommy's Night Off, where he takes the kiddo over to a friend's house. The guys play video games and she runs around and eventually falls asleep until it's time to go home. It's also good for her to learn to sleep somewhere other than her own bed. I get to do whatever I want on those evenings. Starting next week, we're having a Daddy's night off in the mix where baby and I do our thing, and he goes out with friends and does his thing, guilt-free. It's taken us 18 months, but we finally figured out that having time alone without being on parent duty is necessary to our mental well being.


Tonight is Mommy's night off, as was last Saturday. Last week I went to a movie completely alone for the first time in my life. It was AMAZING. Seriously, if you've never gone to a movie completely alone, go do it as soon as possible. For that matter, take yourself out to dinner, too. I did that for the first time when I was 20, and I loved it. I still do love it, but due to being a one income family, it doesn't happen as often. And I don't mean running into McDonald's. Do at least Olive Garden on your own. Someplace with a waiter/waitress. It's liberating to just be on your own time table.

So far tonight I've left the house long enough to buy a really big bottle of wine (Woodbridge, so mid-range Mondavi. Cabernet Sauvignon if you care, because it's my favorite type of wine.) I've had four full glasses, and I'm feeling damn good. I rarely drink anymore. Being pregnant and then breastfeeding for a year killed my drinking abilities. OK, so I didn't breastfeed in the normal way. I was intimate friends with a breast pump, but still, for the first year of her life my kid had maybe a grand total of 20 ounces of formula. I'd say that's something to be proud of because breastfeeding and pumping is fucking hard. It shouldn't be, but it is.

I should add that I have zero problem with mommas who formula feed their kids. I have a lot less parental judgement than many. If you can breastfeed, please do. If not, there's no shame in formula. Frankly, I'm very surprised with myself that I EP'd (exclusively pumped) for as long as I did. Really, my only parental judging comes from people who can't properly use a car seat. Seriously, it's called a CHEST CLIP not a fucking belly clip.

Don't drink and blog, kids. It results in really messy entries. Do I care right now? No. I'm going to keep going.

Something I've been asked repeatedly is "What kind of parent are you?" Honestly, I'm still working up an answer to that question. I'm thinking that when I'm sober I'll have to spell it out.

For now, I'm going to go drink a glass of water so the hangover tomorrow doesn't kill me. Eventually, though, I have a couple of semi-serious topics I want to write about. I just want to be sober and able to cry when I write them.