Be Selfish This Weekend

I took my daughter and my mom on a trip to Savannah this week.

I had a speaking gig for the Effingham Chamber of Commerce, and Leigh was out of school. Lately, the chance to get away for work often feels like a reward, but I needed to pull my parenting weight—so I decided to bring my daughter along.

My mom usually gets the short end of the stick on quality time with her kids. She raised three boys, and while she’s very loved, still, the activity side hasn’t always been balanced. I wanted to be intentional this time. Plus, the idea of a little generational trip to Savannah sounded adorable.

We had a wonderful day: tea at the Gryphon Tea Room (my daughter is obsessed with "fancy" things), then a walk through the famous squares where my mom (obsessed with gardening) identified plants and flowers for us.

Dinner at The Olde Pink House followed by ice cream at Leopold’s—famous in our family thanks to a children’s book about Savannah we’ve read for years—made it a perfect ending.

The talk went wonderfully the next day, and what started as a quick work trip turned into a meaningful memory for all three of us.

Two observations from the trip:

1. When we’re focused on entertaining kids or being good children ourselves, we plan lots of activities. But when left to our own devices, we typically just sit around.

2. On a typical business trip alone, I’d likely have just sat at a bar in some non-descript restaurant, killed time, and then gone straight to the event.

I’m genuinely glad we went down a little early and made the most of the moment.

I guess this is my long-winded way of saying: Stop making excuses. Get out there and live a little this weekend. Go ahead, make it a doozy.