We Took the Kid-Free Trip {and Everyone Survived}

I’ve read all the posts about taking the kid-free trip and making time for you and your spouse. While deep down I knew that would be good, it never happened. In my child’s six years of life, he has never spent the night out in order for us to take a trip. Up until a couple weeks ago. No matter how late, we would always pick him up and bring him home after a date night. We’ve already established that we won’t allow sleepovers at friends’ houses until he reaches a certain age, but we’ve never approached him sleeping at his grandparents’ house.

A couple weeks ago, my sister and brother-in-law got tickets to a game, and we really wanted to go, but the only way that could happen would be for our son to spend the night out. We called his grandma and, of course, she was elated and excited and more than willing to take him for the night (heck, she wanted him the entire weekend). Everyone seemed excited about it, but I was feeling pretty nervous. What if something happened? What if he woke up in the middle of the night and decided he wanted to go home? We’d be over six hours away and not able to get him quickly. I reached out to a few friends about my anxiety, and they assured me that it would be fine. It’d be like ripping off a Band-Aid, and I’d wonder why I hadn’t taken a kid-free trip sooner. I feel the need to mention that during this time, my husband had no concerns about our kid spending the night out and all the worries seemed to be coming from me.

When the time came for us to leave, we packed our bags and put together all the essentials for our six year old. He was super excited about his first sleepover and spending the night at his Bebe’s house. There were no dramatic goodbyes or tears from him when we dropped him off. In fact, he nearly pushed us out the door. During our drive, I wondered how he was doing and kept thinking how quiet the car ride was. I left the check in phone calls up to my husband because I didn’t want to come across controlling or overly worried. After getting a few text messages with photos showing how much fun he was having, I felt myself lighten up a bit. We got to Houston, had dinner, went to the game, grabbed brunch the next day, and headed home. We had a blast, and so did our son because he wasn’t too excited to see us when we picked him up. He was having so much fun he really didn’t want to go home.

Looking back, he had a great time, he was safe, he was taken care of, he had fun, we had fun, and nothing too exciting happened while we were gone. It didn’t take too long for me to stop worrying about him, and when we picked him up everything was fine.

Lesson learned: we took the kid-free trip and everyone, including myself, survived. And, there will definitely be more kid-free trips in our future!

Jaime Mackey
Originally from Florida, Jaime has lived in Southern Louisiana for most of her life (so, that makes her a local, right?). She currently resides on the Northshore with her husband and son and teaches high school English. An enneagram 5, you'll most likely find her doing hot yoga solo, on her phone researching a random topic or sitting in the comfort of her home with coffee and a book within an arm's reach.

1 COMMENT

  1. Hi, BeBe here.
    I’m the grandma who is so excited whenever my grandson visits. But, I must admit, I was apprehensive about the sleepover. My concerns were the same as Jaime’s. So I sought the advice of my sister, who has had many years of grandson sleepovers. She reassured me he And I would be fine and “just make a palette on the floor of your bedroom with lots of stuffed toys”.
    That was wise, but Jaime helped more, arriving with his favorite stuffed toy dog and his father’s sleeping bag. My grandson was so proud that his dad lent him that bag. He wrapped himself in it while watching tv in the den. He dragged it into the guest room while he played games on his iPad. And he nested in it all night with that favorite stuffed dog.
    The sleepover was a success. But my kids came back too soon and reclaimed their darling son. I had hoped for the whole weekend. Not just for myself, but to give these two devoted parents a little more kid-free time. Maybe next trip.

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