BEFORE I had Aurora, I was always surprised when friends or friends of friends who had recently become mums hadn’t had a ‘night off’ from their baby (and by night off I meant the evening, night and day after to recover from the night before). 
It could have been six months or even a year before some friends had any time away from their babies. One friend hadn’t left her daughter whilst she was awake until she was 18 months old and even then it was only to get a haircut. I just couldn’t believe they weren’t desperate to escape, get dressed up and have a night out with friends or a weekend away with their partner. 
‘It’ll be different when you have your own,’ they kept telling me, ‘you just won’t want to be without them’.
Of course, they were right. I didn’t realise I would actually want to spend all my time with her. No one told me I would miss her even when she is napping in the day. Don’t get me wrong, I crave some time to myself but as soon as I have some, I want her back.
However, with our wedding anniversary looming it was time to take the next big step, a baby-free weekend away with my husband. 
Just the two of us. I felt a bit nervous. This will be the most amount of time we’ve spent together, just him and I, since having her a year ago. 
Would we have enough to talk about for a whole weekend? Would we just spend the whole time talking about her, swapping stories, photos and videos? 
I needn’t have worried.We had such a laugh. The best holiday we have had in years. We spent the weekend in beautiful Guernsey, cycling around the island, having long lunches in cafes overlooking the beach, swimming in the sea and paddleboarding with dolphins. It was both wonderful and a little sad, we couldn’t help but wish she was with us at times.
It did feel very strange not having to think about someone else in our plans for the day. 
No arguing over who is going to prepare that morning bottle of milk, no applying make up whilst pressing the buttons of a noisy toy repeatedly with my toe, no baby crawling about the bathroom floor pulling everything out the cupboards whilst I’m brushing my teeth, no baby playing the drums on the cafe table whilst we were having lunch and no baby to keep us from going out for an evening walk as the sun set. 
There were a couple of occupational hazards. Bursting into song with Upsy Daisy and Wind the Bobbin Up as if I would a song in the charts. and booping each other’s noses whilst saying ‘beep’ in the queue at the corner shop before realising we didn’t have our child with us to make that acceptable in public. We found it very amusing.
She was asleep when we arrived back home so I had to wait until the morning to see her awake. When I crept in to see her the next morning she immediately sat up. She was so excited to see me she fell backwards whilst trying to stand up and hit her head against the bars of the cot. But she didn’t cry, she just wanted a cuddle. 
She gave me the longest cuddle she’s ever given me.