Ridin’ Solo

Drum roll please… for the first time in three and a half years, Jake and I took a night and a morning off-duty together. And by that I mean, we packed up all three of our crazy toddlers and dropped them off at their Nana & Papa’s house to spend the night while we went off and pretended we were young and carefree and just falling in love all over again. I was nervous about leaving them, and I had reason to be, but as the night waxed on, I reveled more and more in that long-lost but familiar feeling of freedom that felt so good and light. And I let myself enjoy the night, knowing that I would see my little ones again the next day. And the next day, they would surely make me smile and give me sticky kisses and melt my heart and drive me insane, but for a short while, it was just the two of us again.

We dropped off the Wee Babies Three at around 6 pm, and drove to Phoenix for dinner with some friends at St. Francis. The six of us laughed and chatted and the girls picked on the boys and vice versa. We reminisced about our college days together, told embarrassing stories, and ate way too much delicious food. Jake ordered the pork chile verde with cornbread and polenta and I got the flatbread with sausage, onions, fresno chiles, tomatoes, and basil. You know you got it right when everyone at the table each thinks they ordered the best thing on the menu. Then, despite stuffing ourselves, we had to overdo it with frozen custard at Culvers. And we were glad we did that too. While a dinner date isn’t entirely new to us – we try to get out once a month at least – it is certainly always appreciated and has yet to get old.

Of course we couldn’t just end the evening after dinner, because this was only a once in a three and a half year opportunity we had. Even though we were utterly exhausted and could have easily collapsed and fallen asleep till morning right then, we downed some caffeine and headed back out to meet up with a friend from grad school. We stayed out as late as we could stand it; like when you’re ten years old and having your first slumber party. You can’t just fall asleep at your regular bedtime. Oh, heck no! And heaven forbid you were the first of the group to let your eyelids shut! You know, we thought, tomorrow may be our one and only chance to sleep in. We may as well make it worth something and stay up to earn it! And so after the party was over, we decided to head out for a swim and a simmer in the hot tub. We felt like rebellious teenagers. It was perfect.

The next morning, we slept soundly until 9:45 am – officially the latest I’ve slept in years (not the most hours of sleep, but still). I have to say that the strangest and nicest and probably the most novel part of the whole experience was getting ready in the morning. Isn’t that odd? Yes, it was definitely the feeling of not rushing, not having to control chaos, or readying dependent others. I was only responsible for getting myself up and ready, and every little thing was exactly where I had left it. And there was no screaming. Crazy.

But, there was no sound of shrill giggles or feeling of lunging, uncontrolled little hugs. There were no Disney songs being sung with half-right lyrics and a half-right melody or soft, cushy little cheeks pressed against my lips or the smell of baby shampoo mixed with sugary sweat. And I missed it. So we had one last perfect breakfast at Metro and hurried back to meet our little sweets. And, oh boy, were they sweeter than ever.