There are people out there!

A week or so ago I went out after the girls were in bed to return some movies. It was, oh, 7 p.m. on a Friday night. I noticed, with no small amount of disdain, that I truly felt unfamiliar. It had been so long since I had been out after dark, that it actually made me feel weird- like the first day with a new short hairstyle.


As my mom says, I've got to get out more. She told me this after I told her that I had walked into Ella's preschool, heard the music playing and commented, "Oh, this is from the Curious George soundtrack."


Our girls just go to bed really early (trust me, I am not complaining) and in the summer even if we did keep them up, it didn't get dark until late, so we just weren't out doing stuff after dark. I think the last time I was out (like in a car driving or having fun somewhere) after the sun went down was one month ago at Matt and Angela's wedding reception.


So there I was, driving through downtown Bangor, pass cozy restaurants, voyeuring people eating in softly lite-up windows, thinking to myself... people are out! There are people out here having a good time!!! Eating supper!! Having a glass of wine!!



It was as if I had crawled out of a cave to realize someone had invented the television.



As a result of my socially deprived person, we have been getting out more. We went on two (count them!) dates last week. Trish gave me the gift of time for my birthday so she babysat for us (which consisted of fed, bathed, sleeping children and leftovers in the fridge as her terms and conditions stated) while we went to eat. The problem was that the girls must have overheard us talking about having time alone and decided to foil us at every move. It took us over and hour to get them (specifically Maya who was keeping Ella up) to bed. We did make it out, though and we had a wonderful dinner.



What did we do after dinner, out with the people who were out? We complained that nothing was open for us when we finally made it out!



Actually we went to Borders and picked out a coloring book for Ella that rivals me in height and then on to Target (seriously) to get her a bean bag for her November birthday. We got her friend Skyler one for her birthday and Ella was pining after it. Then we picked up matching footed pj's for the girls. Yes, I am not joking, we spent the rest of our date shopping for the girls, giddy with excitement about how happy these things would make them.



What is wrong with us? Why do parents do this? How is it that I put them to bed last night running on fumes, desperate for some time when they are not needing every ounce of me and then I can't wait to get my hands on their chubby cheeks and yummy smelling heads this morning?



Then this past Saturday we got a babysitter and went out for our friend Angela's surprise 30th birthday celebration. It was fun, fun, fun. We ate Pakistani food and then went to Paddy Murphy's pub to listen to music. And there were people out there too! We were having such a good time and contemplating staying just a little bit longer.... I called the babysitter to see if that was cool with her and she told me... the girls were awake. And had been since 7:30, half an hour after we left. It was 10 p.m. Needless to say, we headed home, wondering what sort of plotting these two masterminds were up to.



It's all well and good, though. Sandi and I are very much on the same team again, centered at the heart of this family, no longer letting those munchkins drive a wedge between us. It was getting late, way past our bedtime the other night and I mentioned we should get to sleep. She said, "but if we go to sleep then we will wake up and so will they and we won't have any more time together...."



I know this craziness is (relatively) short-lived. I had a flash of thought the other day, kind of like when you look at your current life and see it as the memory it will someday be. These will be the days, I thought, of snuggles and laughter and utter absurdity when we were dog tired every night and fell into each other's arms with love and amazement and contentment.

Right?