Playing Hookie

Playing hookie for a mom is like not washing that fourth load of laundry for the day. Then, the next day that load was the one that had the one item a child needed for school! Moms never really get to play hookie, as I just recently learned. I planned to have the entire day ahead of me without any children and without doing anything for them. I had a quick doctor appointment scheduled for myself that was located near a outlet mall. I arranged my day so that I would be able to leisurely shop after the appointment. I was looking forward to just relax and shop at my own pace!
I ended up going with a friend of mine who needed to start later than I had intended, but we tacked on a restaurant stop onto our day, which was a really nice addition. The shopping part of out trip was lessened to only one hour, but that was fine with me because I was relaxing! I kept saying to my friend, "I feel like I'm playing hookie!" We both felt like we were doing something wrong because we were not taking care of our regular responsibilities.
All afternoon I had this nagging feeling like I was supposed to be doing something. I finally let the guilt go on the ride home because there was terrible traffic and torrential rain. We were running terribly late although we managed to arrange back up childcare for our kids, thank you cell phones!
It was only after I got home and happened to glance at my personal calendar did I see that I totally blew off an appointment for one of my kids! Not only had I already rescheduled this particular appointment one time before, but I was at this office two days prior and I told them that I would see them today!
I couldn't believe it! I knew I felt guilty about something all afternoon.... well, I wasn't going to beat myself up about this. I was playing hookie, and part of playing hookie means there is no guilt about doing it. But what is a mother without guilt?