Parents’ Time Out

Jake and I try to make it out for date nights on at least a semi-regular basis.  By this, I mean that we usually break free one evening each month.  While we’d love to do it more often, we are at the mercy of kids’ schedules, babysitter schedules, the need for more babysitters who are trained with Ariana, and so on.  Because this isn’t something we get to do all the time, we like to be original and make it a memorable event whenever we get the rare few hours off.  We don’t spend a lot of time sitting in chain restaurants, and we definitely don’t come home at a reasonable hour. 

In other words, we typically behave like teenagers.  We like a little adventure.  Even in the suburbs.

You know it’s a good night if you’ve gone pool hopping at the Phoenician or opted for dinner at a food truck in the heat instead of in a restaurant.  It’s a great night if you’ve run through sprinklers, gone swimming in a public place fully clothed, did handstands, climbed a fence, sang in a restaurant and got the other patrons to join in, did a martial arts demonstration with spectators, got free food, rolled down a hill, did a cheerleading drill on a football field and got into a human pyramid, belted songs on the radio with the windows rolled down, bothered store managers with our immaturity, asked strangers to dance and sing the National Anthem and do insane amounts push-ups just for fun… or if your sister mooned a motorcycle at a stoplight (sorry, Marci).  Any of those things would make it a memorable and fantastic night out in my book.

The men aren’t pictured, because they were off trying to beat us at our own game… and yes, I got Marci’s permission to post this photo.

Which brings me to day dates.  Jake and I pretty much never get any, with the exception of an occasional quick weekday lunch at our favorite hole-in-the-wall New Mexican restaurant with Liam while the other kids are in school.  But last week, we did.  We got to go on the king of day dates when we were invited to go wake surfing with our friends, Scott and Sheena, at Lake Pleasant.  We felt as free as… birds?  Children?  Single young adults?  I’m not sure, but we had not a care in the world, and that felt very different than what we are used to.  We were happy to even be treading water endlessly, because crazy as it sounds, treading water is something we never get to do anymore!  Of course, Jake rocked his first time wake surfing, and made it look extremely easy.  I loved it, and I got up on the board nearly every time, although once up I had no clue what I was doing!  My record staying up was a whopping 4 seconds!

So, while we may not get to do these things every weekend, or even every other month, I will make certain that when we do, those memories will not be lost or discarded.  Rather, they will be cherished and retold, because life is short.  And moms and dads deserve to have a little fun too :).