Date Night

It's hard to believe it's already February. I'm really hoping this isn't how the rest of the year will be! Way too fast. I'm also hoping this year will be a little less stressful than last. 

The man finally got full-time at his part-time job! I am suuuuper excited!! The hours are still kinda weird, but it should be significantly different than the past 11 months. He'll still work the part-time too (which is his old full-time. haha) and be around quite a bit more. I'm so ready for that. 

While I am excited to see Red more often, I've still been kinda mopey that we don't have any kind of set quality time. I know his schedule will be less crazy, but it won't necessarily mean we'll be together that much more. And I wish we could be. We really need to be. I miss having conversations that don't end because someone falls asleep. I miss doing fun stuff together. I miss going places without a miniature red haired person. The man works hard (with a good attitude!), so I don't like complaining to his face about how little we actually see each other. 

So, the other night, I was on Facebook (shockingly) and it was a Friday night and my news feed was littered with people's date night plans. Cue blank stare and envy from Sarah.

Here's a peek at what I might have been yelling at my computer screen, pretzel crumbs spraying everywhere : ----------> I don't get any kind of "night". How come they're going out? Applebee's? Again?! Who is this chick, just rubbing it in our faces? Didn't they just go to the movies 2 weeks ago? Heh! Must be nice. Enjoy your "daaate", sea hag! *fade to weeeeeeping*

Whoa. Whoa. Simmer down. These sea hags gals are my friends!

I needed something. As my outburst would obviously suggest. 

And that's when I decided I would have my date nights, husband or no!

What's the point of date night anyways? To go "out"? To spend money? To make sure you're caught up on the latest movie or other form of entertainment? 

Or is it to build on relationships; to connect, one on one, with someone you value as a person?

It's to strengthen a bond, right?!

Well, then what about the bond right in front of my face? 

The bond...of mother and child.

*angelic chorus sings.."ah ah ah ah ah ah aaahhhh"...*

What about quality, face to face, one on one time with the person I am growing? I don't always spend as much time with him as I probably should. Which seems like crazy talk, since I'm with him more than 24/7. But then I started to think about the break down of my day. What am I doing?

I'm teaching. I'm bathing. I'm feeding. I'm disciplining. I'm helping. 

In all that scrambling to just take care of the basics, how much am I really really listening? How much are we connecting? 

Connecting is important. Memories are important. I want him to know that I prioritize him and I'm listening. He'll be a man someday and I want him to have memories with me; to be connected to me. 

And so, in an effort to keep in touch with my son's heart, Date Night is born. 

Every Friday night, we do something fun together. Just us. We turn off the tv, I don't have my phone or any plans to get anything done, we put his toys away. I know it sounds like "Duh.", but it has been awesome; something I wasn't purposely setting aside time specifically for. We've had 5 dates so far and I've been having so much fun. We've had movie nights, eaten tons of popcorn, made root beer floats, made pizza, and had lots of snuggles. Hopefully, when it gets warmer or I get a car, we'll be able to branch out and maybe go get ice cream or go to the movies. We'll see how it goes. I have lots of ideas of new things to try and stuff I want to show him. It's given us both something to look forward to and talk about; it's been really good for us. He mentions it throughout the week and gets really excited on Fridays.

I feel like hopefully I'm using this season of our lives well. I have more time with him now than I might ever have again. I realize that he may not be my only child someday and one on one time might be difficult to get in the future. I have so much to offer him right now. I am so blessed to be able to do this with him, while I wait on the days when I'll be able to have quality time with my other man. 

So here's to nights at home & little boys who think it's awesome to hang out with their moms.