The joy of escaping your family

Today I want to tell you how important it is for you to be escaping your family. Not forever, perhaps (although some days I wouldn’t rule it out), but for a good whack. And regularly.

Do you love your kids? I love my kids. They blow my mind every single day with their individual little personalities, learnings and foibles. Miss 10 has shown me this year that she is a talented musician by learning the clarinet and kicking its arse. Extra impressive because I can’t even play the triangle. Master 4 is currently obsessed with ‘Minja Turtles’ and can build crazy-clever vehicles out of Lego that blow my mind. And Little Red is almost 2. She is suddenly obsessed with changing outfits every couple of hours, and with making an official announcement each time she farts.

If you read blogs (and I’m assuming you do, because, ah, this is a blog), you may have heard that last weekend ProBlogger was on at the Gold Coast. What is ProBlogger? For those uninitiated, it is a giant conference where bloggers come from all over the country (and in some cases, further; hello Kirsty from Qatar!). It’s sort of like an Amway convention but with less dickheads, more drinking, and marginally more men.

The upshot of this was that Champagne Gillian and I got to pack our bags (and in Gillian’s case, her ENORMOUS makeup kit) and drive to the Goldie together. Gilly and I have never been away together before, so that in itself was exciting. We hit the road with 90s dance music on the car stereo and levity in our hearts.

Then we got into three days of learning, networking, chit chat, champagne, room service, and uninterrupted headspace.

escaping your family
Gilly and I got to catch up with some of our favourite gal pals: Bianca from Big Words Blog, Danielle from Keeping Up with the Holsbys, and Kirsty from 4 kids, 20 Suitcases and a Beagle

Highlights included:

  • enormous soft beds
  • room service (sure, I mentioned it earlier, but room service always bears repeating)
  • being able to finish our sentences (and our thoughts)
  • being able to think purely about ourselves
  • sleeping in
  • girly bonding time
  • being able to leave the room 30 seconds after deciding that we wanted to leave the room.

It was awesome. I can’t tell you how much I loved it.

escaping your family
When you escape your family, you can sip drinks out of cute little bottles with straws, without having to share them with snotty people who backwash.

And then I came home. I hugged my husband and my children tight. The kids were filthy, the house was a mess, dinner needed to be cooked, and there were piles of washing to do. But I felt no pain. I had a fresh appreciation for all those little things about all of them. And social media was full of bloggers saying the same thing. They loved their time at ProBlogger but they were just so happy to be home.

I once met a woman who had four kids – aged from 12 down to 2. She proudly told me she has never spent a night away from her children. I feel sad for her, and for her kids. There is nothing like recharging your batteries to remind you of what and who is important in your life.

Sure, champagne, gal pals and room service are freaking ace, but I remember how much I love my family now too.

Do you ever get away? Or do you desperately need a break?

Written By

Carolyn is the editorial director of Champagne Cartel and a freelance writer. In her spare time she is a long-distance runner, peanut butter enthusiast, and single mum to three incredible humans.

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