A few times a year, moms need a break. And I'm not talking about a coffee break, a trip to the spa, or a girls' night out kinda break. I mean a break break -- where you leave town for a few days without the kids and remember what it's like to be an adult again.

And I know what you're thinking: Leaving the kiddos is tough, mainly because it stirs up all sorts of unnecessary feelings of guilt -- either because you feel horrible for wanting to be away from your kids, or because you're afraid they will miss you so much they'll cry their eyes out for the entire duration of your little getaway.

But guess what? Neither of those things is cause for feeling guilty. They'll be just fine without you for a few days, and leaving your kids does NOT make you a bad mom.

It seems not a week goes by that I'm not hearing about how lonely and isolated moms feel. How hard it is to make friends. How they miss their old friends. How baby-raising has taken over their lives and they feel cut off from the rest of humanity. Gals, it doesn't have to be like this. Sure, you're probably not going to be able to go out and do all-night ragers at the local tequila bar anymore. But there's no reason you shouldn't be able to eek out a few hours a month doing something other than babbling at your baby. If you feel like the world has abandoned you, well, let me tell you, the world often feels like you've abandoned it. So let the world and you come together again. It might start off slowly if your baby is young, but better to start now than to wake up in a few years and be unable to call up any friends -- because you don't have any anymore.

Here are 6 tips for moms who want to get at least a little of their lives back.

Being a mom is an amazing thing. Truly, it is. I wouldn't change one thing ... except that time we all had the throw-ups. But even then as I was cleaning up my kids' puke, I realized I wasn't concerned about the staining or the smell, I was worried about my kids. That's love. But sometimes, despite all of the love, motherhood is a lonely gig.

My twins are 3. They like to hang out with me, but not really. They want me to play with them, but then want me to leave the room. Sometimes I hear "Go away, Mommy!" I guess I'm not cool enough to vrroomm cars across the map on the floor, too. Mommy! Can you help me click this in? my daughter asks. Her unicorn's hair clip came off. I fix it. Thank you, mommy. No you stay here, she says as she walks away. So I watch them from a distance, but still close, and wonder what my childless friends are doing.

Everything about the small, warm bundle in my arms felt deeply familiar to me in a muscle-memory sort of way -- from how I'd instinctively reached to support his neck to the head-to-the-left position I automatically settled into. This perfect little baby boy our friends had welcomed into the world just three days beforehand was a beauty, and the tiny sleepy noises he made were as nostalgic and appealing as the milky-sweet scent of his head.

If ever there was going to be a time when biology might override my decision to be done having children, it seemed like this was it. Sitting in a chair, cradling a newborn, remembering the wild magic of those early days with our boys.

I smiled tenderly down at him, watched his rosebud mouth open into the world's tiniest yawn, and thought to myself, Oh, thank fucking GOD I get to hand you back in a few minutes.

It only took getting to the the second paragraph of this New York Magazine piece titled "The Feminist Housewife" for my eyes to roll: "Women (...) are conditioned to be more patient with children, to be better multitaskers, to be more tolerant of the quotidian grind of playdates and temper tantrums."

The article focuses on the so-called "retro wife" -- the contented women who choose to leave their careers for a peaceful, satisfying life raising kids:

... what was once feminist blasphemy is now conventional wisdom: Generally speaking, mothers instinctively want to devote themselves to home more than fathers do. (...) The harried, stressed, multiarmed Kali goddess, with a laptop in one hand and homemade organic baby food in the ­other, has been replaced with a domestic Madonna, content with her choices and placid in her sphere.

Domestic Madonna? PLACID IN HER SPHERE? So, am I antifeminist if I say I can't identify with that sentiment at all?

As a parent, do you ever feel guilty for the choices you make? (Cue chirpy Sally Struthers voice: Sure, we all do!) But do you ever feel guilty about NOT feeling guilty as a parent? It sounds silly -- like a waste of time and energy, and also like some sort of useless glitch in the motherhood Matrix -- but reverse Mom guilt is an actual thing now.

Reverse Mom guilt, as described by this article on Today.com, is triggered by the fact that good mothers are supposed to feel guilty about almost everything in our pursuit of parental perfection ... but there are times when we relish our supposedly guilt-inducing decisions without feeling bad about it.

Instead, we feel a little bad about, you know, NOT feeling bad.

Vanessa Lachey recently admitted to having the "baby blues" after giving birth to her son, Camden John. In a blog post, she details how she felt "lost, unloved, alone, and at [her] wits' end" shortly after becoming a mom. Lachey found herself crying one day for no reason at all, and not knowing what to do, she got in her car and left.

After driving around a bit, Vanessa went to a Starbucks. And when she came home, she showered, got dressed, and immediately felt better. It was the first time she had done anything for herself since giving birth, and it's a perfect example of just how badly women need some time alone after becoming mothers. It isn't selfish; it doesn't make you a bad mom; it's important. Having a baby is hard and stressful. Taking a little time here and there for yourself is crucial -- and, actually, it's a lot less difficult than it seems.

Here are 10 small ways new moms can carve out some much-needed time for themselves.

Kendra Wilkinson is known for telling it like it is. Now that she's a mom to adorable Hank IV, the former Playboy Playmate doesn't hold her tongue about parenthood either. Her latest confession, however, may surprise a lot of other mothers.