Mom's Night In: A cheaper way to indulge, but beware the kiddie conversation

Instead of spending a lot of money going out for wine & chocolate for a Moms' Night Out, I decided to invite my mom friends to my house. Enjoying wine and chocolate is just one fun way to host a Moms' Night In. My mom friends arrived after they put their kids to bed and we relaxed in my living room with a bottle of wine and chocolate cookies and sweets. My husband was on child duty in case our daughter happened to wake up.

We all had a great time and at least it was a night "out" for them but after they left I realized how often the conversation came back to our children. I'm not sure whether it was the venue (I will have to test this in the future), the nature of the gathering or just our mood but no matter what we discussed, someone always seemed to bring up their kid, or preschool or parenting in general. We'd planned time for ourselves to just kick back and "get away from it all" for a few hours and yet, I was struck by how none of us could completely forget our children.

I was initially disappointed by this realization but now I see this as a good sign. And when we feel guilty for trying to take time for ourselves, we can remind ourselves (and our kids) that they are always with us, even if we're gleefully stuffing our faces with chocolate and cheering the fact that they're in bed.

Originally Published by Sandra K. Lee on November 07, 2009 in Food and Drink on the New Jersey Mom's Blog.

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