We had the best weekend – a totally spontaneous trip to the beach!
My Friday night legal writing class had been canceled, and I decided that my family needed to spend time with me more than I needed to go to my 7:00pm Civ Pro class (for just one night). We were all looking forward to our first Friday night together in 7 weeks. We’d probably grab a pizza and just enjoy our few extra hours together. It was a gorgeous day. Three people over the course of it told me they were heading to the coast for the weekend. As I pulled into our driveway at 3:00pm Friday afternoon I thought – WE could go to the coast, too. It was crazy. It would be expensive. It would be fun!
I raced into the house. All were napping except the dogs. I called the hotel we stayed in this summer. They had a room available. I couldn’t book yet, as I’d not talked to my partner. I’d call back shortly. Soon, I peaked into the bedroom and saw my partner was awake.
“Wanna do something totally fun and irrresponsible?”
“Maybe.”
“Wanna go to the beach for the weekend?”
We NEVER do anything this spontaneously – not before kids, and certainly not since. This normally would be WAY out of my partner’s comfort zone. Not this time 🙂
Within 40 minutes of that conversation, we were packed and heading for the coast! Our son was really excited when he awoke from his nap to find us packing. He asked about every 10 minutes for the 2-hour drive how long it would be until we were at the beach. (2 hours there due to traffic – made it home in 90 minutes!)
Saturday was a wonderful, gorgeous, warm, fun day. We played, we all got along, no big conflicts or meltdowns.
We headed back fairly early Sunday morning so I could spend the afternoon doing the homework that I’d normally have done on Saturday. We decided that next time I should take my books and study late into the night. I personally think NOT studying was much more rejuvenating!
I already have two sets of notes that I borrowed from classmates from the CivPro class I missed, and though I know I can’t make a habit out of it, I really believe this “stolen time” was exactly what our family needed this weekend.
Chalk one up for my attempt at “striking a balance” that we hear so much about.
Insider advice and insights to help you decide if you should pursue a higher degree while raising children, and tips for being successful if you're already on that path, from a woman who graduated from law school in her early 40's while working full-time and helping raise two young children. While most of the blog posts were originally written several years ago, they have recently been sorted for the most relevant materials, and new content is being added.