Date Night

One of the interesting things about life, or something I've found to be true in my life, is that it's difficult to appreciate how things are until they are no more.  I know there are tons of quotes on that topic but, while I think there is something to actively practicing appreciating where you are and what you have, there's a limit to how much you can fully grasp in the moment.

Am I making any sense?  Let's move on...

Gone is the season of taking time to get ready for a date and anxiously waiting for the car with my handsome college stud to pull up and whisk me away to dinner or the dollar theater or a stroll around Bed Bath and Beyond for the millionth time.  Sometimes a mixture of the three!  We clearly were awesome at dates.

Sometimes most times getting ready meant throwing a sweatshirt on and piling my hair into a crazy mess on the top of my head.  BUT if I wanted to take more time I could, all I had to focus on was myself, and I had my roommates closet to chose from.

I referenced in this post that B took me to see Beauty and the Beast for my birthday and hinted that it was a story in itself so here goes.

Seven and a half years and almost three kids later brings those two wild and crazy college kids to their late twenties working harder than ever to figure out how to date with other people to take care of.

B let me know tickets were available through his work and if I could line up child care we'd be good to go.  I texted our babysitter and found out she could get there an hour after I needed to leave so I snatched her up and sent out an SOS for the hour I needed.  My sweet friend, who happens to be our sitters mama, said she'd be happy to come over for that hour so we were set!  I had my outfit picked out in my mind, planned on actually curling my hair and pretending like I know how to wear makeup, and even wrote down the boys' evening routine so everything would be set.

Nap time rolled around and I found myself with two options... do my Bible reading or take a shower. I have a goal set to read through the Bible before baby gets here.  More on that in a future 2016 goals post for my niece.  I chose the former and before I knew it the boys were up and we were beginning the last few hours of the day.  I began prepping the boys to expect Auntie Karen to come for a little while and then Miss. Victoria and Mr. Steve would come play with them and put them to bed.

Four o'clock was approaching and I was going to jump in the shower for ten minutes while the boys played upstairs.  I let the boys know, and had Koi tell me the rules for playing in their room.  The key one being no playing with clothes! We don't have closet doors, and their clothes are on a bookshelf shoved into their closet.

I jump out of the shower to find Thomas's bed covered in their clothes.  And not just their clean ones.  The dirty pee smelling pjs from an over soaked diaper were mixed in, too.  And this wasn't something I could ignore and get back to!  Someone else was going to be putting the boys to bed so there needed to actually be a clean bed to put Thomas!  At this point I'm spewing angry words at my three year old who is just acting out and spiraling because he can tell I'm trying my hardest to get ready to LEAVE him.  Four thirty is coming and going and before I know it it's 4:45 and I'm supposed to leave in twenty minutes.  I throw on my outfit to find the way it looked in my mind did not cross over to how it actually looked on my six month pregnant self.  On to choice #2... oh wait, there's a massive stain on the front that I've never noticed because I've never pulled it out of the pass around maternity bag.  The clock is ticking, my eyes are red and puffy from the tears that started coming and just wouldn't stop, and the mountain of clothes has still not been dealt with!

A text from B tells me to worry about the clothes later, and that it doesn't matter what I look like because I will still be the most beautiful person there.  BUT THAT'S NOT THE POINT!  What happened to the days when I could enjoy the process of getting ready for time with my favorite person?  Is this just what the new normal looks like?  I throw the clothes into the crib, and manage to find something that fits.  Gone is the time to curl my hair so I put it in a "fancy" ponytail and what was going to be a glamorous face turned into a "how do I hide the fact that all of the tears from the past six months decided at this moment to pour out?" look.  This is all happening while receiving comedic and encouraging texts from a friend who was trying to keep me from totally losing it.

Auntie Karen got there and pushed me out of the house, there was no traffic on the way to B's office, and he was there waiting like all he had to do to get ready for our date was go down an elevator.  We shared a yummy burger, a pretty funny cheese plate, and he kept my cup full of my favorite pregnancy drink of cranberry and soda with lime.  We were making the best of the vouchers that came with the ticket package.

The Opera House was beautiful, and we had great seats for a lighthearted musical. When I checked in with the sitter at intermission I found out that Koi went to bed great, but Momas was still having a difficult time.  I suggested she try putting him in the crib because the bed was a new thing, and then made sure he had blankie and paci.  Blankie was the missing piece and he passed right out when that was found.  Then I laughed when I remembered that the crib I suggested was filled to the brim with clothes.

It ended up being a great date night, and just what we needed before B got on a plane for a week in Switzerland.

I'm learning it's all about rolling with the moments these days.  Things don't always go as planned when you are dealing with 4 (almost 5) people instead of just two.  We are in a season where in house date nights after the kids go to bed seem like the best choice, and my pregnant self is OK with that!

When I shared this story with another friend she laughed and said, "Next time put the audio Bible on your phone and get in the shower!"  And the boys' clothes are moved to the top two shelves of the bookshelf without a clothes incident since.

We're all growing and learning together, and we have a ten year anniversary trip sans kids on our minds! ;-)