Breaking News: It's Date Night

Date Night?!? Once you are married?!? Yep. Call us crazy! 

I love "date nights" with my husband and I find them a MUST once a week! It's the one night we can get out of the house without a screaming toddler and a 14 year old that is annoyed with the screaming toddler. Those two are a match made in (pardon my French English...ear muffs kiddos) HELL. I loathe family dinners out because they always end up with everyone annoyed and ready to kill each other. I always said that I would not be one of *those* couples who brought their screaming kids to a restaurant so they could make others miserable....but I am guilty. We honestly try to pick "kid appropriate" places to eat when we have the two in tow but you still have those evil stares by kidless couples when the chaos starts. It never fails, Brody gets upset because he doesn't want to drink out of his "sippy cup" he wants (kicking and screaming) the "big boy" cup with a straw. That meltdown ensues Victoria's meltdown accompanied  with the eye rolling and the huffing/puffing under her breath. Mike then tries to calm Brody down which in return makes him scream louder and makes the huffing and puffing from Victoria louder. Meanwhile, I am sinking further and further underneath the table wishing someone had a gun so I could put myself out of my misery. (Not literally, folks, I would never harm myself or my children) All of that is on a good night, people. 

I think my blood pressure just went up by typing all of that hysteria but it's real and it's my world. I wouldn't have it any other way but as a reward, Mike and I dine out by ourselves at least once a week (And the Angels sing, "Hallelujah"). We call these "Date Nights". 

"Date Night" is a breath of fresh air (and some sanity) for me. I get to dress up nice, do my hair and make-up and feel "non-Mommyish" for a couple of hours. I know people that don't have kids can't relate to that feeling but the ones who do know what I am talking about. It's refreshing and reminds me of why I am with my husband...I still get the butterflies when I am getting ready and I get excited and there are times I even get a little nervous...crazy, huh? It's so easy to get caught up in your role as being a parent that you tend to lose sight of what brought you two together in the first place...it wasn't the kids, they came after the fact. It was your attraction to your significant other, their mind, their humor...you lose that focus when you have children and other distractions (bills, mortgages, careers). Sadly, when you lose that focus, some tend to lose their marriage in the process. It's easy to do because "life" totally can consume every waking minute leaving your partner and marriage in the dust.

So....we brush ourselves off once a week from life and concentrate on one another for a couple of hours without "life", kids and the chaos. Luckily, my husband thinks I am a good catch so he's taking me to "The Catch" for a nice romantic dinner tonight.