Let’s think about this a minute… Time Out? Hmmmm….

A moment to be by yourself.

A moment to be left alone.

A moment to get away from the hype.

A moment to step back and regroup.

A moment to detached from the goings on in the world.

A moment to block out the noise.

YES, PLEASE!! I’ll take that Time Out NOW!

This past weekend, my husband and I went away for the weekend. As we are heading to the airport, he said, “I can’t wait to sleep.” LOL. He meant sleep too, close your eyes, get some real rest kinda sleep. As parents, regular sleep is a thing of the past. Y’all know what I’m sayin’.

Sleep away from home means going to sleep without doing laundry, or letting the dog out, or making sure all the lights are off, or making sure the doors are all locked, or there are pellets in the pellet stove, or making sure the kids aren’t getting back out of bed, etc. There is just going to sleep because all the chores of life are back home.

Time away means time to talk about our family. Talk about us. Talk about our needs, our family’s needs, our kids’ needs. Our future. It let’s us block out the stressors of the world and just enjoy being together. How rejuvenating! For us individually, as a couple, and also as a family.

And, if I can toot my own horn for a second, what a great example to show our kids. They know that Mommy and Daddy love each other, value our relationship, our family, our health and well being, and what better way to provide faith and support for them. A strong marriage is crucial for a healthy family.

Even though we spend time away from our children, they know we will always be there when they need us. This time, we had to step up to the plate and prove it… alert text from home, change the flight plans, cancel the hotel room, get home at 3am, only get 3 hours sleep, take care of my sick little one. Fortunately, I’ve got a good partner…we make a good team, one of us went back to sleep after helping get Josh off to school, someone has to be more functional, the other did the taking care of the sick kid. That’s what we do, we balance the good with the bad… we’re parents. We take time for us, so we are stronger for them.

Taking time out of the responsibilities of life for a few days helps us refocus. It’s good to spend time away from the regular stressors of the world. It’s good to enjoy just being on this Journey called Life. Nothing easy about it, and we’ve only got one ride. I’m trying to make the best of it. Work hard, Play hard… Enjoy the Journey, right?

So, when life gives me a “Time Out”… I’ll take it! 😉