My husband and I had what could be qualified as a date tonight. It’s been a long time since it has happened, so I’m not quite sure.
I had been working all day, really all week, helping some friends move their business. It is extremely physical work and I am simply exhausted. I had to do my weekly duties at church and then I was going to go to Wal-Mart and go home to crash on the couch. As I was driving to church, I drove past Hannah’s best friend’s house and remembered that Hannah was supposed to be at a birthday swim party tonight.
After frantic phone calls, we managed to get Hannah to the party, I got my church work and shopping done and I met my husband for dinner near where the party was. We enjoyed ninety minutes together where we ate and had an adult drink together and we even got to talk without being interrupted. We topped off the dinner with a calorie laden dessert.
While we had to rush around to make it happen, it was certainly worth it and reminded us that we need to do this more often. We even got to see some teenagers out to dinner for their spring formal. When we are caring for “high needs” kids, everything becomes so much about the kids that the parents can tend to get lost as human beings.
If you are a stay-at-home parent, this is even more of a danger. Getting out and talking to adults is a rare treat. Forming a sentence with words that consist of more than one syllable or does not revolve around toileting, doctor appointments or other kid centered activities can become a distant memory.
As is shown by our example, your date does not have to be elaborate, expensive or even for a full night. The fact that you are spending time together is the important part. Get out, enjoy yourselves, and most importantly, avoid talking about kids as much as possible!
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