Tricks for Planning an Effortless Moms Night Out

You may not plan a regular moms night out with your girlfriends, but I encourage you to change that immediately. Whether you feel guilty about leaving your family, or think it will cause more stress to plan it, those are hurdles you need to get over! I think a night out with your girlfriends is key to your overall well-being as a mom. I’m showing you the do’s and don’ts of planning an easy moms night out! Motherhood can be isolating and I think it’s important to get out of your house and relax with your girlfriends from time to time. Being able to step away from your mom duties, even for a few hours, is so refreshing. I know that when I have been in mom mode, with no real breaks or chances to just be me and not mom, I feel stressed out. I am short-tempered and not fun to be around. A quick dinner out, is usually enough to help fix that. You had your own life before you had kids. I don’t think you have to give that up completely. I’m hoping these tips for planning a moms night will encourage you to plan one soon!

This post is in partnership with Netflix. As part of their #StreamTeam, I share my favorite movies and TV shows with you, monthly. I LOVE this because I’m a TV junkie and love to share my finds!

How to Plan an Effortless Moms Night Out

DO’S FOR PLANNING A MOMS NIGHT OUT

• Plan ahead if you can. Finding a date and time that works for all the moms, though, will never happen. Choose the date that most people can come to and run with it. BUT sometimes it is also great to try something last-minute. That whole mom guilt can really get in the way of planning so a last-minute, “Hey! Can you come out tonight?” invitation via text can often have great results!

• Meet at the restaurant instead of waiting for everyone’s spouses to get home. It’s hard to work around schedules so instead of keeping everyone waiting, the night out can get started and people can come as they need to. This works best if at least two people are on a similar schedule so one person isn’t sitting alone in a restaurant all night waiting for other mom friends.

• The ultimate goal of a moms night out is to leave the house early enough that you miss dinner time and get home late enough that you miss the bedtime routine. But of course, that doesn’t always happen. That’s like the holy grail of mom’s nights. I think mom nights work best when the activity or restaurant you choose is close by. A close restaurant, maybe a movie (although I fall asleep when I see night-time movies), a wine and paint night, those are all fun and everyone is close enough that if they needed to get home, they could quickly. Choose somewhere that has decently quick, is not too expensive and appeals to a lot of people. Unless everyone is super excited about international cuisine, I don’t think moms night is the time to try something new.• Try to plan a moms night out when your husband is home or older kids can watch the younger ones. The point is to remain stress free so if you have to pay for a sitter, you’re going to be worried about what time you are getting home. This isn’t always possible, but not having a sitter takes a lot of stress off.

• It doesn’t always have to be dinner or drinks. A Target run with your mom friends can sometimes be just as restorative as wine. PLUS you KNOW you need something from Target. Most have a Starbucks so you can get a little treat if you want. Maybe you don’t have time to get out for a sit-down meal. An hour of girl time is good enough!

• Make your moms night out a habit. It might not be the same people each time. It might end up being the same restaurant every single time. However you want to do it, make it a priority. I am usually the planner of these nights and I don’t mind that at all. I know that I’m at my best after a girl’s night out so I’m willing to be the planner and encourage everyone to come out with me.DON’TS FOR PLANNING A MOMS NIGHT OUT

• DO NOT host a moms night at your home (unless you are ready for all the work that comes with it). The whole point is to make it easy to get together so don’t get stuck worrying about if your house is clean enough, what you will serve and how long you will have to stay up after doing the dishes. Of course, it can be fun to host a mom’s night in like this fun oils and wine party. It was a lot of fun but also a lot of work!

• Don’t worry about “getting ready.” Let each gal decide what she is in the mood for and pass no judgements on what each mom decides to do. I had a moms night out last night and only looked presentable because my hair had to be done for something in the morning. Otherwise, I would have gone with my air-dried, frizzy hair. Wine tastes the same no matter what your hair looks like. Which I think should be everyone’s new life motto. Other nights, though, I want to dress up and put lipstick on. You do you, and let the other moms do the same. • Don’t forget about the morning after. You may have gotten a moms night but that doesn’t mean you are off the hook for mom duties in the morning. I very rarely drink more than 2 glasses of wine. So while I might not have a full-blown hangover, I sometimes don’t wake up feeling great. Be sure to plan ahead. I usually will take my favorite anti-hangover supplement before bed and have Body Armor and Tylenol on stand by for the next day.

Don’t be overwhelmed by the idea of planning a girl’s night out! Keep it simple, keep it fun and keep having them! I was inspired to write this post after watching Fun Mom Dinner on Netflix. 4 moms, who know each other from school but have little in common end up out at dinner together. They end up having an interesting night and spoiler, at the end, love each other. It’s funny. I found myself laughing out loud on several occasions. This movie talks about friendship, marriage, aging, all of it. This is one of those movies you watch by yourself on a random Saturday afternoon where you have nothing to do. Plus Adam Levine, from Maroon 5, is in it. He’s pretty.

Sometimes your moms night out just doesn’t happen for whatever reason. Here’s a list of my favorite new shows and movies on Netflix so you can still have some “me time”.

Things to Watch on Netflix When Your Moms Night Out Doesn’t Happen

• My Next Guest with David Letterman – David Letterman interviews Barack Obama and visits Selma with Rep. John Lewis, civil rights activist. David talks to Obama about life after the presidency and what he thinks of what has gone on in the White House since. It’s just so good. Part 2 with George Clooney is out Feb. 9!

• Grace and Frankie, Season 4 – I’m a big fan of this show! Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin are hysterical! They are the female odd couple and the show is well written. I was so excited when season 4 was available. But it made me realize I never finished season 3! So I just wrapped that up and am only part way through episode 1 of season 4.

• Trolls: The Beat Goes On – You may remember I got to go on a fun adventure at Dreamworks a few months ago for the release of Trolls. Have you watched it yet?! It’s not just fun for the kids. The music and humor are perfect for everyone. Related: Five Reasons Parents Will Love the Trolls.

• Step Sisters – When I saw the preview pop up for this movie, I kind of rolled my eyes. A white sorority needed to win a step competition in order to save their charter. But I put this on while I was preparing my taxes and ended up really liking this movie! It was sweet and full of great characters.

• Queer Eye – I can’t wait to check out this new version of Queer Eye for the Straight Guy! With a whole new cast it will be fun to see if this version has as much heart as the original!

• Altered Carbon – This one sounds intense. It’s a mind-bending murder mystery based on a prisoner, who returns to life in a new body (after being frozen for 250 years…) and tries to win his freedom. I wouldn’t usually gravitate towards a show like this, but lately I’ve really liked several shows that just happened to be on so I have no doubts this one would keep me interested.

I’m also looking forward to Everything Sucks, a look at kids entering high school in the 90’s and Rapture, a Hip Hop documentary. Plus, the second season of Greenhouse Academy, which my 11-year-old and I LOVED is out on Valentine’s Day!

But there is one thing that I would really like for Netflix to remove from the platform. There is a comedian who make horrifically insensitive jokes at the expense of the down syndrome community. It’s not ok. Please take a minute and sign this petition to encourage Netflix to do the right thing and take this down.

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