Wednesday, March 08, 2006

Date night!

Hubby and I went on a date Tuesday. A real, live date! Just the two of us! We ditched the Terrors with Carol, the Most Amazing Babysitter in the World, and took off for the afternoon and evening.
We went to the library, and quietly browsed for books....for ourselves. We puttered happily for a long time, finding things to read in our spare (ha!) time.
We went to several book stores (do you see a theme here?) and wandered up and down Main Street. Alone! Holding hands!
We had sushi for snack, and ate dinner Alone! I ordered my dinner based on what I wanted to eat, not even once having to think of what Boy Terror might like to share with me. I drank wine with dinner, and we even shared a dessert.
We visited friends (who have no children) and sat around, talking. I sat! The entire time! I didn't need to leap up to rescue wedding crystal. No one interrupted us constantly, wanting to be a part of the conversation, or needing a drink, a snack, a bathroom escort. It was great!
But....
We are parents, first and foremost. On the way into town, when a mother moose and her calf crossed the road in front of us, we talked for a long time about how much Girl Terror would have loved it, and how fun it is to see stuff like that with her.
Walking down Main Street, we stopped in the children's clothing store to buy some tiny cute outfits.
In the book store, we stood and read kid's books, making notes on which books need to go on our "To Buy" list for the kids.
At dinner, we looked at the photos we had just printed out, of (you guessed it) the kids. We admired them as if we had never seen such cute babies before in our entire lives.
At our friend's place, we brought out the pictures again. We made our friends look at them and gush. We talked about raising kids, reasons for and against becoming parents, and just general child-related talk.
On the way home, we wondered if the Terrors napped for Carol. Did they eat a good supper? Did they have a blast tobogganing? Did they go to sleep at bedtime?
Once we were home, the first thing I did was check on Boy Terror. Then we both went in and kissed Girl Terror, "accidentally" waking her up for hugs and love.
It was a great date, made even better by the fact that after a few hours away, we were ready and happy to go back into being parents again.

5 comments:

Jeannie said...

You're obviously great parents.

Dana Glover said...

I agree completely with your last sentence. Hubby and I just took a mini-vacation to celebrate our anniversary. We took pictures "for the boys", went shopping "for the boys" and made a list of places to take them this summer. And when we got home, the hugs and kisses and catching up were the highlight of the trip!

Northern_Girl said...

It is amazing what a few hours away will do for parents. You are lucky to have someone like Carol!

Drama Mama said...

I love that feeling. Right after a "date" you are ready to jump back into the pefect parent bit. Not so exhausted anymore and out of the "what's the point" mode.

"Ms. Cornelius" said...

What? You mean you can have a plate of food all to yourself? Since when? How?

And you're just being mean with that "sitting down" part-- I've been thinking it's a myth ever since I became a mythus.

Can I borrow Carol?