Well, it’s Saturday again, and I’m going to make every effort to finish this post before my daughter gets home from work. My husband and son are camping this weekend (without the luxury of motorhome, though I think they planned to sleep in the car rather than on the ground in a tent), which leaves my daughter and me home alone until Sunday. GIRLS’ WEEKEND!
My husband and son are both Eagle Scouts, and at one time, when my son was heavily involved in his Scout troop and my husband was the Scoutmaster, my daughter and I had these Girls’ Weekends frequently–sometimes once a month, even in the winter (Scouts are hardcore; they have a campout in January in the SNOW, when we have it. NO THANK YOU). In the summer, we’d have a Girls’ WEEK while the boys were at Scout Camp.
With the arrival of a global pandemic in early 2020 (perhaps you’ve heard?), Girls’ Weekends were placed on indefinite suspension, a suspension that lasted so long, that this is the first real one we’ve had since January 2020, and–I’m devastated to admit–it may be our last. My son and husband are still involved with the troop–both are Assistant Scoutmasters–and they have resumed campouts, but my son is twenty and has a real, big-boy job and often can’t attend, and my husband is electing more often to stay at home. It’s impossible to have a Girls’ Weekend when one or more boys is home.
Girls’ Weekend activities can include other girls and women and often does–my stepmother, my daughter’s gymnastics teammates, other Scout families whose girls are left at home. A couple of times, we’ve even taken Girls’ Weekend on the road and visited my best friend–also my daughter’s godmother–in San Diego.
Girls’ Weekend activities can be divided into the following categories:
- Self Care: Can include manicures and foot masks–both on tap for this particular Girls’ Weekend–but has also included retail therapy (which I hate under most circumstances that don’t include an online shopping cart) and home spa days. My stepmother and I took my daughter for her very first manicure during a girls’ weekend some years ago, and when we have one later today, it will be her second.
- Gettin’ Crafty: We have colored in a giant coloring book I bought just for this purpose and visited our local ceramics studio. The summer before the pandemic, I bought a huge tie-dye kit and we invited our friends to join us for a tie-dye party. There were seven of us tie-dying t-shirts, socks, washcloths, and even a pair of underwear my daughter unearthed in her room. We had a fabulous time that day and the next few, as we texted photos of our finished creations to each other.
- Stuff Yer Face: This is just what it sounds like. My daughter and I use the opportunity to eat things our boys don’t like, or we don’t cook at eat out, and I assure you none of it is healthy. As I type this, my daughter is on her way home from work, having stopped at a drive-through to buy tacos for our lunch.
- Our Viewing Pleasure: When there are no boys here to fight with us over the use of the television and our multiple streaming services, we use the time to watch…well, whatever we want, and the cornier, sappier and romantic the better. I’ve also introduced my daughter to some of my favorites–both new and old–during Girls’ Weekend. Say Anything… Some Kind of Wonderful. Reality Bites. Juno. Crazy Stupid Love. I’ve seen some things that I probably would never have watched if not for my daughter insisting on a Girls’ Weekend that we watch them. I’m sure by Monday I’ll be able to tell you all about Kissing Booth 3, and yes, I have seen Kissing Booths 1 and 2.
As I mentioned, I will be devastated if this turns out to be the last Girls’ Weekend. Maybe it won’t be. Maybe my son will take more weekends off, or they’ll plan more backpacking weekends together (fingers crossed!). Or maybe Girls’ Weekends will go on hiatus, and one day many (very many; my daughter is only seventeen) years from now, my own daughter will look back fondly on these weekends, and I will be invited to join my daughter and her daughter for a Girls’ Weekend, and we’ll make a whole new crop of Girls’ Weekend memories.
HA! I did it! My daughter just pulled into the driveway from work, our tacos in hand. I’m dashing this last sentence off before I join her to eat them (terribly unhealthy). Do what makes you happy, and I hope that includes a Girls’ Weekend–or a reasonable facsimile–of your own.
Vickie Jarman 