For the first time in 17 years there was not one person who needed my assistance, my attention, or my ability to provide door to door service.  Yep, I was unneeded and I kinda liked it. 

You see, my husband decided to use this fall break for some male bonding with he and our ‘occasionally getting too big for their low slung baggy jeans’ teen sons and head to the windy city to remind them of where he brought them into this world.

It was made known to me and Olivia that this was a ‘no girls allowed’ trip. We quickly thought no problem!  My daughter’s and my own fantasy of having our house alone free from ‘boy smell’ and ‘teen testosterone’ was almost sounding too good to be true. 

It didn’t take, though, for the phone to ring and an invitation to be extended to Olivia by another outnumbered girl family.  And to be sweet they added my name to the invitation list too.  As much as I appreciated and contemplated the thoughtful invite I was just not ready to wave bye-bye to my fantasy weekend of rest, solitude, and quiet in a home where none of the above rarely resided.  So I declined and got on with my dreaming of respite without regret. 

In past years, fall breaks have been all about taking advantage of every last opportunity to be with my family and creating memories.  But this fall break it just felt right to let my boys have some ‘man time’ without their coddling mama and for my daughter to spread her wings without me chasing her with the clippers.

So what in the world did the gal who loves to be on the go with her family and gal pals do?  What do you think I did?  I embraced every last minute of it, did only what I wanted, and when I wanted; a perfectly designed weekend!

Because I have never lived alone, haven’t been without someone sleeping under the same roof for the last 17 years, and I’m a little bit of a scaredy cat (OK, a big scaredy cat) I was a little nervous about how the whole nighttime thing was going to go down.  I was determined that I was not going to ruin this mom’s once-in-the-last-17-years opportunity with ‘I know You’re In the House Alone’ scenes running through my mind. 

And just to prove how brave this ‘wonder woman’ was focused on being, I even filled up the bath tub and with extra bubbles.  No ‘fatal attraction’ bathtub scene was going to scare this girl off from a night of private pampering. Word to the wise…. spa music or nature sounds, in my case, only sounds soothing when you are at the spa.  I found it to be a little creepy.

None the less, I had a beautiful weekend in the comfort of my own home in my own zip code.   Unhurried conversations with friends, a  few laps around Nordstrom’s, no schedule to follow, back-to-back episodes of Rachel Zoe, a glass of vino, or two, and quiet, quiet, quiet:  pure bliss. 

I love my hubby and kiddos galore but I also know that we women work and serve our fannies off a ton more than we don’t.  So a little down time, private me time is good for any woman, mom or not.  Her heart and soul will be full and her family will be thankful. 

I also know good and well that pure bliss of a private weekend at home is purely because my heart is full in knowing that this quiet house will soon become a noise-filled haven again as soon as I hear the soothing sound of the garage door alerting me that the true bliss is about to begin again.

Amy Freese is a life and style expert. Contact her at mailto:amy@designerherliving.comor visit her website at www.amyfreese.com.