eyebrow enlightenment

I've an embarrassing admission. Maybe not embarrassing…more like sad. Pathetic sad,  not boo hoo sad.  Today I had an eyebrow waxing appointment. No biggie, right? The hubs said he would watch Brody for me while I went. What's 20 minutes? I took Brody out to the nursery ( tree nursery not child nursery) so Daddy could clock in on his duty. Yes it was quite a bit out of the way just to be kid free for my appointment, but you guys, that alone time was AMAZING! And then it hit me. I am savoring my eyebrow waxing appointment? WHAT?!? The car ride alone was peaceful. I couldn't decide between blaring my music and having absolute silence. Both are golden. I pulled up to Lotus and breathed a sigh of relief. Alone. I am alone. Just me. Not mommy. Not wife. Just Riley. All of this wonderful freedom felt at the price of getting my eyebrow hairs ripped out. Wow, Riley. Something definitely needs to change when you catch yourself treating your wax appointment like a tropical getaway. My only child free time in weeks and its 20 minutes of torture? I have since decided, 2 1/2 hours later mind you, that I need to make myself a priority. My time alone is important. I'm not talking about the time I get during the day while Brody is napping, or the time in the evening he is in bed. I am talking about just me time. Whether it's wandering around Target, reading a book at Barnes and Noble, taking a drive or having a coffee with a girlfriend. I need that time to be me. I need that time to let everything else go, stop worrying about everyone else's needs and just focus on me. I have to set out a time during the week, maybe the same evening once a week, to go do whatever it is I want to do. A no excuses time so that no matter what Jeff has to step up and be Dad and Mom for a few hours. And I get the bliss of not having to haul around a diaper bag, the water bottle an arsenal of toy distractions and a toddler who switches his mood about as fast as his pregnant mother does. It's important. It's important because my eyebrow waxing appointment that happens once every 6-7 weeks should not be my lone getaway time.