I used that title on a personal post of mine that I wrote last year about my group of girlfriends, and the Google hits are still coming in. Who are the guys looking for “moms gone wild”? Would they not rather see hot college girls as opposed to women bearing stretch marks, skin tags and banana boobs?

The Google hits on that last sentence should be interesting.

Last night I hosted a “Girl’s Night In” at my house. I have a pretty fantastic group of girlfriends for whom I am eternally grateful. When my husband and I first moved to our small town we were the only young couple in our church. There were a few work colleagues our age, but nobody that we clicked with. I wanted a girlfriend. Just one.

Fast forward seven years and a night out with The Girls involves a few minivans stuffed to the gills with women giddy with the thought of a night out together.

The extended group of girls does not get together very often. We all have husbands and most of us have children. Small clusters of us will gather once or twice a week for play dates. These are fun, but conversation is often interrupted by kids fighting over toys, wanting a snack, needing a diaper change.

One of our common conversational questions is, “What was I saying again?”

When we can all get organized, we try to get together as a larger group to celebrate something big. A new baby, a birthday, a friend moving away to explore opportunities. These nights are filled with a pile of food, uninterrupted conversation and a whole lot of laughter. For a few hours we are no longer classified as Wives or as Moms. We are just Girls who want to have fun.

In the comments of my last post the topic came up of having friends who interfere with your marriage relationship. Choosing to confide in a girlfriend (or more than one) instead of your husband. This is not what these Girls’ Nights are about. They are about connecting with other women, sharing our dreams for the future and laughing over common idiosyncrasies. And possibly also the state of our boobs after breastfeeding.

While I am always happy to come home into the arms of my husband, I still appreciate these chances to connect with my friends and just be me. Not Honey or Mommy, but just Angella. No dinners to cook, house to clean, bums to wipe. It is nice to “just” be a woman for a few hours.

I think it serves my family well when I get the chance to recharge in this way. I feel like there is a bit more balance to my being as a whole.

Do you have a group of friends who you connect with, or maybe a hobby? What do you do when you need to just be “you”?