From the August/September Issue of Working Mother

Making sure everyone is on task, figuring out a new (less expensive!) solution, making your deadline come hell or high water. If you’re anything like me, you’ve spent the better part of the summer getting the job done—at work and at home. All of which brings me to this picture. To me, this is what it’s all about: making sure everything and everyone is working smoothly so I can escape with my family for some pure do-nothing time.

This is us—Owen, 4, Gwendolyn, 7, me and my husband, Brett—out on the beach after our annual pilgrimage to Gosman’s Dock, in Montuak, NY.

Each year we take the train to the tip of Long Island with our best pals and fellow working parents, Bonnie and Aaron, and their daughter, Tonya, 5, to do nothing.

Absolutely nothing.

Believe me, I love my job. I can be as high-energy as the next working mom, and I love the thrill that comes from making something you can take pride in (like this magazine). But I firmly believe that we working moms need to unplug as well. The laundry will wait, the food shopping will wait, the school-supply shopping will also wait. (Will the world end if the kids don’t have a protractor by September 7?) Before a summer comes to a close, take a moment to get away—even a staycation day in your own town—and just enjoy some fun together.

Before you know it, we’ll be off to the races again, with a new school year, new projects and a new season of holidays to schedule and survive. I swear, they can all wait one weekend, and you’ll be so glad they did.