Space to breathe

This week my stepkids are on holiday with their Mum, a whole week, 7 whole days and 7 whole nights, and even though I'll be at work it feels like a holiday for me too*

*cue gasps of horror and evil stepmother comments....

I know, it's terrible of me to think and feel like this, I should be missing them as much as my partner is and wishing the week away until they are back, right?

Wrong.

I'm sorry for my partner, I know he will miss them terribly and, at points, I will miss them too but on the whole I will just feel free for the week. Free to just be me and to just be a regular normal couple with my partner, with no worries about homework, hair washing, arguments, school runs or ways to entertain kids. As, at the end of the day, they are not my kids but I do, I think, invest a lot of myself in them and sometimes I just need a break from it.

I'm sure some of you are reading this and thinking what a evil stepmother I am, but if you know me then you will know I'm not. If you stop and think for a minute, if you are a parent, sometimes even you want a break, you want your kids just to not be there for a little while. Don't you? Well think about if they weren't your kids? Would you not have those feelings, probably magnified?

I know the answer, not that many of you will admit it.

I also have something else to let me have that space when the kids are with us and that is one room in the house that is a child free zone, at all times. I don't think you will understand unless you're a stepparent yourself, but that space is my safe zone. If I've had a bad day or if kids are just too much for me and I need half an hour, I can escape and chill out. Much better than me taking out any stress on my partner or with a chocolate binge or wine or worst of all, taking it out on the kids.

You see, me having this space and this week isn't really me being a selfish, evil stepmother, it's about me being the best stepmother I can be. Without it I don't think I could do everything else.

And breathe..............