A few weeks ago I went on my first out of town business trip. At first I was furious that my company even asked! How dare they…Don’t they know I have an infant to care for!
Soon my anger turned to joy, well I guess one night won’t be that bad, I might actually get some sleep…wait a minute I MIGHT ACTUALLY GET SOME SLEEP!
It wasn’t long before I called my district manager back just to “let her know” if more days were needed in Albuquerque, I was okay with that….just saying. I’m a team player after all.
Well the trip came and within seconds of the plane taking off for our destination, I was crying uncontrollably. (I care people…some days more than others) Anyhow, when the stewardess came by to check on me, I explained that I was a terrible mother for leaving my child so willingly.
“What if the zombie apocalypse hits while I’m away on travel? I’ll never forgive myself!” She nodded her head, left down the aisle and came back with a gin and tonic …“No need to pay for it,” she said, “this is compliments of South West.”
A mom on the plane saw my distress and took pity on me. She had a young child with her and asked if I wanted to hold the baby for a while… of course I said yes. So there I was on a South West plane bound for New Mexico holding a total stranger’s baby and blowing booze in its face….totally normal.
When I got to Albuquerque, I grabbed my rental car and headed to the hotel. I was feeling refreshed. I had a drink to calm my nerves, got to play with a cute baby girl most of the plane ride and then hand it back to its mother once I was good and over my crisis.
Since I had a night to kill, I decided to call up my cousin and his girlfriend who live in the ABQ. I changed my clothes and headed over to their place for dinner. It was great! We laughed and drank. We talked politics and life, you know grown up conversations. Having a baby can sometimes detour you from engaging in such discussions. I now often find myself talking about what clothing size Rowan is in, why Rowan’s head is so abnormally shaped and my home remedy for Rowan’s constipation.
The night went on and we ended up putting back a little more to drink than anticipated. My cousin knowing I was in no shape to drive – offered me clean PJs and the guestroom. I was much obliged and off to bed we went. Later that evening, even though I was away from Rowan, I still found myself up in the middle of the night. You see, I nursed something else that night – a hangover, and that’s the worst baby of them all. Turns out having a child has set me back in my drinking, I’m a little more of a light weight then I used to be. Yep… I had one night of freedom and I chose to spend it puking in my cousin’s toilet.
I flew home the next day after work in Albuquerque. I pulled up to my house just in time for dinner. Rowan was happy to see me and I was happy to be home. That night, like clockwork, Rowan woke up around 1am needing changed and fed. As I stumbled through the dark to make a bottle, I reminded myself that it won’t always be like this and someday I’m going to look back and miss these days… but until then I’ll just complain…
Motherhood Updates 