Oh mamas!

For the most part, whether you work outside the home or stay in with the wee ones, the mothers do more - if not most - of the job when it comes to raising children. This isn't a slight to the dads who do a lot, and there are many of you out there (G-man's own included). Simply how the majority of our culture rolls.

So it's no surprise that just like the ladies rockin' the kid-free lifestyle, moms need a little fun on their own, without the kids in tow. This could be to the grocery store at night, a coffee shop on a weekend or just sitting on the front stoop during naptime. But to truly be free of it all, you gotta' groove it with the other mamas.

I've recently had the pleasure of two such outings. One was a playgroup mamas night at a bar where we enjoyed yummy cocktails and treated ourselves to a manicure. As all our kids are around the same age, it was great to talk about them but not have to actually watch them at the same time. Most of our lovelies were home asleep in their fortresses guarded by daddy so it's not like we were scoring extra "no toddlers allowed" time, but we were enjoying it out of the house. We put on makeup! We wore jewelry! We looked hot.

The second such sans G-man adventure was this weekend. A group of my friends decided that we needed to go camping. Just adults. Just girls. For those of you that I haven't met, camping is not something you associate with me. In fact, you may think that my fear of bugs, fire and a little chill in the air makes me the antithesis of camping. And you'd be right. But I sucked it up and went anyway.

Now despite my earlier statement of how time away is necessary, I very rarely do it. I'm a bit of homebody. I don't think I really went out to enjoy myself much at all during G-man's first year. Even the monthly book club meetings that are always enjoyable are something I dread when it comes time to leave the house. I feel like I should stay home with my boys. I want to stay home with my boys. 

Ladycamp required a night away. Not to mention some serious day time away, too. Did I need my girl gab so much that I would agree to that, and the added pressure of camping? Yikes. What do you do when you camp? What would I do?

Turns out, we did whatever we wanted! Between the four of us, we had seven children, ranging from 20 months to 8 years old. That meant some serious pent up energy coupled with outrageous exhaustion. We drank, ate, lounged and talked. Boy, did we talk! Topics covered included in-laws, child safety, dunkin' donuts, shaving, nostalgic toys, birth control, ideal family size, childhood stories and way more. Some we probably shouldn't repeat. 

We stayed up so past our bedtimes, looked at stars, laughed our asses off. The whole time, we never forgot our kids; they were a great subject of conversation. We were still someone's mommy but we were our own person, too. There were spiders, coyotes (very far off), chilly weather and food on sticks. It was great.

So here's to you, the brave, pioneering members of Ladycamp '09, who survived 21 hours without our sweet children and with nothing but a french press and specialty coffee; a yurt equipped with A/C, heat, floors, beds, windows, combination-lock door, deck, ceiling fan and skylight; camp chairs with cupholders; clean, heated restrooms; mobile phone service; and s'mores as far as the eye could see. Can't wait 'til 2010!