Every now and then everyone needs a night out. Or in my case this weekend, two in a row. Here’s the thing. I’m in my thirties, I’m a mother and a wife. These things do not add up to an easy day after finding yourself in a case of beer. I definatly go through the hangover stages. This is how I try to manage my way through them.

Denial

“I’m not sick. Honest”. Those are always my famous last words before I have to bolt to the bathroom. My only advice for this is don’t fight it. Be honest with yourself. If you have to hunker down in the bathroom with a bottle of water and a cold cloth then so be it. The inside of your mouth doesn’t feel like a fuzzy sock just because. You, my dear, are about to have a long day. There will pleas to god, cursing and probably tears. Just ride it out.

Anger

“I hate everyone that’s living their lives normally right now”. Ok. No one made you drink your weight in alcohol. And there’s no room to be mad at anyone or anything. Especially if you know damn well that the next time you go out you’ll be going through the exact same thing again. When this stage hits its best to try to slink away into a dark room and nap. Not for yourself, but for everyone around you.

Bargaining

“God, if you make this stop i’ll NEVER drink EVER again”. This stage for me lasts the longest. Normally it starts when there’s hair extensions strewn all over the bathroom, I’m hugging the toilet because its cold and I have makeup running down my face. I’m usually ready to throw my soul on the line to make it stop. This is also usually the time where you start getting flashbacks of everything you did or said the night before, resulting in wanting to pack up and move across the globe where no one knows you. Which brings on a whole new level bargaining. Just own it. Yes you got shitty. Yes you embarrassed yourself. That’s just how it goes sometimes.

Depression

” I’m such a loser when I go out. Why do I act like that?” . Everyone has been here. I have given and received many next day calls making sure I’m not going to be run out of town by fire wielding villagers. So what if you normally don’t dance but found yourself leading an empty dance floor into Macaranaville. You had fun. Which was the whole reason for going out in the first place.

Acceptance

” Last night was so much fun. I’m terrible but I had a blast”. Once you’ve pulled your head out of the toilet and stopped feeling sorry for yourself you should be able to look back at the night before and smile. Everyone has things they wish they never did. But focus on the positive. If there was friends, laughter and fun, then it wasn’t all bad. There’s a reason why you keep doing it right? A night out once in a while is nothing to feel bad about. I literally woke up this morning and saw my purse was filled with popcorn and hot dogs (I’m not even kidding). I had to smile despite feeling like death and having terrible dancing flashbacks. Get out there and have fun. Sometimes those are the nights you talk about for years.

xo Stephanie