I knew when I signed on for this whole parenting gig that it meant giving up my personal life to take care of my family. I’m all cool with that, except that I didn’t quite count on the extreme that it would go to around here. The last time that hubby and I went out sans kiddos was almost 4 years ago, before K was born. There have been several different reasons for this, including pregnancies, my mom (and only chance at a sitter) passing away, money issues…you get the picture.
Yep, that’s almost a full four years of zero alone time outside after the kids are in bed. Unless you count the exciting 15 hours of labor with D. Cause K-man wasn’t there, so we were technically alone and not at home.
Until today. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, hubby and I LEFT THE HOUSE. ALONE. And went to dinner and a movie…thanks to last year’s Christmas gifts from my lovely sister and nephew. Yeah, it took us almost a year to coordinate a movie we both wanted to see with a sitter. Sue us.
My always so charming stepson (who is now living with us) babysat the little two for a few hours and let us escape. I don’t think either one of us realized how badly we needed it until we were alone, in the car, discussing how we felt like we were doing something wrong.
We hit the movies and caught a matinee of This Is It, the Michael Jackson documentary. I’m not a huge movie fan, but even if you are remotely interested in MJ’s music, this one is definitely worth a watch. Seeing his creative genius at work was worth the price of the ticket. It makes his passing even sadder, after seeing all of the hard work that was going into preparation for those concerts. They truly would have been amazing.
We ended our night with dinner at the Olive Garden. Not only did I get to enjoy a guilt-free glass of wine with dinner, but I didn’t have to beg anyone to eat or cut up anyone’s food. It’s the little things like that which you take for granted when you have kids in tow 24-7.
I must say that spending just a few hours alone has really done wonders for our relationship. We were able to reconnect a little and remember just a bit of what it was that made us fall in love in the first place.
Even if it has been awhile, just a few short hours alone can be just what the doctor ordered for your relationship. I know I have a renewed appreciation for my own marriage tonight.
