The added bonuses of child-free trips away

Next month we have a couple of trips where will be staying away without the kids. I’ve mentioned this before, but this isn’t something we do very often at all! So for it to happen twice in one month is a real treat and will be a shock to the system.

One of the things that I regret not doing more of pre-kids, is going away on weekend breaks and particularly city breaks as a couple.  We’re more than happy to visit places with our children but it’s often less than relaxing and because we’re always tending to their needs and usually avoiding meltdowns, we often don’t get to see and enjoy places as we would like.

So with our two trips looming I thought I would put together some of the ‘bonuses’ of going away without children. I’m sure if you’re like me, you won’t need much convincing but are a few of the plus points anyway!

You get to have a proper grown up conversation over dinner and take your time eating it

It means that you can actually sit down and talk freely rather than being interupted every couple of words. You don’t have to referree any arguments or make sure that anyone is finishing their dinner. You just need to remember to not keep talking about the kids and actually eat slower. We’re always super aware that we eat really quickly now and we can be finished up in no time at all – great for the waiters but really silly for us! You also don’t need to worry about whether the eatery has a play area or people mind being around children.

You can walk hand in hand

Three kids later it’s always such a novelty to be able to do this. If you’re not laden pushing a buggy, you’ve usually got several little people that want to hold your hands or who are going to make it near on impossible to meander along holding hands together. So this is the time to make the most of it and it takes you back to when it was just the two of you and you instinctively held each others hands.

Embrace the inner tourist in you and explore your surroundings at your leisure

This is one that I’m really looking forward to and is something that I crave. I think of all the places of interest I have been to lately, where I’ve not had the opportunity to have a look around as I’d like, where we’ve had to leave early because someone is bored/hungry or unhappy.

We have a weekend trip to London coming up and we also have a longer stay in a woodland lodge in the Peak District. Both are so different but we’re really looking forward to being able to appreciate both places – although very different!

Let’s hope that this is the start of many mini trips together and we have lots of places in mind – click here.

It helps you reconnect as a couple

I always find that date nights really help our relationship and everytime we have one, we vow to make sure that we book more in regularly. Of course, life and lack of babysitters gets in the way and it’s often months, if not years until we make arrangements for another. It doesn’t matter what you do, just make sure that it’s something that you both enjoy. My favourite is still a meal followed by the cinema.

As well as making you appreciate your children that little bit more

You know that you’re going to miss them. As much as you might be chomping at the bit to get away from them for a few hours/days, you’re inevitably going to start feeling all warm and fuzzy towards your little darlings as you remember all of their best traits when you’re away.

And the best bit?

You get a lie in!

But you probably won’t be able to make the most of it because your children have set your body clock to wake up early and it’ll be sods laws that you do – although at least you won’t have them popping theirs heads around the bedroom door every two minutes…

Nb. Collaborative post.