Baby Steps: A heavenly weekend away - without kids!

Success! We finally did it: Max and I got a weekend without kids! It would be a lie if I told you it wasn't heavenly, and an even bigger one if I said the best part wasn't the water pressure at our bed-and-breakfast.

I know I have preached over and over again that parents shouldn't feel guilty about being away from their kids, that it is good parenting to step away and rekindle your relationship with your spouse. The problem is, I haven't practiced what I preach.

In the 11 months since Felicity's birth, Max and I have had three nights out. For two of them the kids spent the night at grandma's, and for the other we had an amazing babysitter for a few hours. All three times were fantastic, but not nearly the once-a-month I tell my readers they should partake in.

I think that is why this last weekend meant so much to us. We didn't do anything fancy. We went to a bed-and-breakfast in Ste. Genevieve, Missouri, then spent Saturday in St. Louis, then went to a friend's birthday party on Saturday night. For most, that would be a normal weekend. For us, it was the mythical night out we have heard so much about.

The first thing we did was sit in silence for about 10 minutes. Any parent will tell you that yes, silence is golden, and yes, you would pay for it. We enjoyed a nice complimentary wine hour, followed by dinner with friends, and then the best part: A shower! For background, you should know that our house has the worst water pressure known to man. Our shower just trickles, and baths? Forget about it! It will take at least 15 minutes to fill the tub halfway. That shower at the bed-and-breakfast, with its hot water and pressure, felt as amazing as an hour-long Swedish massage.

After that amazing shower, we hit the sack, and a super-comfortable sack it was. The nice, quiet night's sleep was epic. Max didn't move a single muscle in that nine hours, and if it wasn't for my bladder, I probably wouldn't have, either.

A delicious breakfast that I didn't have to cook was followed by a day going to stores and window-shopping. It was weird not hearing, "Mom, I'm hungry, I'm tired, I want that, I need that, can we go home yet," all day. I read a book, I napped and I didn't have to share the food on my plate. And then we did that sleeping thing all over again Saturday night.

I'm telling you, I'm a new mommy! I am now an even bigger advocate of mommy timeouts than ever before. Yes, we missed our kids, but picking them up from grandma's while feeling well-rested was exactly what the doctor ordered. We had a blast and can't wait to take a timeout again soon, and I prescribe one for all of you, too!

----------------

Kristen Pind, a native of small-town Gower, Mo., came to Southeast Missouri State University with big dreams of being the next Katie Couric or Diane Sawyer. She never thought that in her 20s, she'd be married with two kids and living in Cape Girardeau. Keep up with Kristen's adventures as a young mom who's still trying to figure out how her own life fits together. Turns out, she's living a dream she never knew she had, and loving every minute of it. Kristen invites moms of all types to find her "Baby Steps" page on Facebook.