Anyone with kids knows how difficult it is to break away from small children for any period of time. I could probably swing a few hours away, maybe even long enough to go eat AND go to a movie, but what she was suggesting was entirely different. It would require overnight care for my boys. This is a luxury I have rarely enjoyed since Ryder was born. I could count on my hands the number of times Ryder has spent the night away from me. Maybe 5 times at my mom and dad's, 1-2 times at Shaun's parents and 4-5 times at Nikki and Chris's. Often, he spent the night because I had a need for it, somewhere to be the following morning so early that it would require him to stay overnight somewhere else. There were a few luxury nights in there, however. Mom kept him for the night on my 6 year wedding anniversary so that we could spend the night in Birmingham; she also kept him on the night of my (sort of pitiful) class reunion. Nikki Marker graciously kept him an entire weekend in January before Sawyer was born so Shaun and I could get away to Gatlinburg (that was sort of tainted though by the beginning of Chris's nightmare in the hospital); Sawyer, on the other hand, has only spent the night away from me once--when we moved to Southside and I had to get up very early to go to Birmingham to get an award with my Fraternity (I also woke up with a virus so it was not exactly a pleasure having to pull myself up so early) .
I don't really have tons of babysitters at my disposal to ask to keep my kids for the night. My parents are always willing to help, but my mom is past the point of keeping Sawyer alone. A few weeks ago at my house she lost him while watching him as I cooked. I found him chewing on the toilet brush in the guest bath. And Ryder is even too much for her. He will walk outside or away from her and she just cannot keep up with him. Shaun's mom is busy and rarely available to babysit for an extended period of time. And Nikki Marker, who is my main babysitting lifeline, is busy with her own kids. I feel guilty putting my kids on her overnight (though she is pretty awesome at offering to babysit and keeping them for me whenever I need someone for a few hours, and she would totally do it overnight if I needed it.)
Somehow though, the stars aligned and mom and dad were both available to keep the boys overnight and offered when they heard me mention how I wanted to go with Devin. So, yesterday Shaun and I had an old school, pre-kid reminiscent night on the town. We dropped the boys off at mom's at 6 then headed to eat. After that, we met Devin and Tim at Brother's.
This is when our night began! Can I just say how weird it felt hanging out at Brother's. I joked as I went in that I deserved the faculty discount and joked that I would probably see my students there and give them a heart attack once they realized their EH 101 teacher had invaded their hangout. We settled ourselves at a table and started laughing and talking with friends. I tried to totally relax, but guess what was on my mind? Yep, my boys. I had already checked on them by phone like 3 times between 6 and 9 o'clock. Mom even told me to relax and have fun and stop thinking about them. What made me most nervous was Sawyer. He is my baby, and it feels so weird to be away from him for a long time. I worried about him waking up and not being able to go back to sleep. At 10:30, I received a text that both boys were asleep and doing great. From that point on, I danced, laughed and sang along with Drake and my friends. Devin and I felt like we were in high school again. In fact, I felt the very opposite of 31. I felt 21 again, despite the fact that my aunt Scarlett would say that wasn't true!
From 10:30 on we had a blast. But no matter how much fun I was having hearing Drake sing, watching Devin be her funny self, and cheering Coby on as she took up for herself against a super annoying probably intoxicated guy, I still had the boys on the back of my mind. As a mother, I guess there is just no way around that. When we came home at 3am (holy geez, I haven't closed a bar down since college) Shaun and I enjoyed going to bed without having to brush teeth (well, other than our own) change diapers, put on pull ups and read bedtime stories. We just went to bed. The next morning, despite my best effort to sleep in, I was up at 8:30. Funny how that works. BUT it was also nice getting up at leisure, fixing coffee and relaxing in bed reading before getting a (very rare) peaceful and kid free shower. The rest of the day was simple and great. The boys excitedly came home, and we ate a DELICIOUS meal at Shaun's mom's house and enjoyed family. By nightfall, we were back in the same old routine, changing diapers, brushing teeth and putting kids in bed. As much fun as having a night to myself was, I sure did miss my sweet boys (but that doesn't mean that a part of me isn't looking forward to the next adult night out I will have, probably when I turn 32.) At the end of day, my birthday was pretty spectacular. 31 must have great things in store for me!
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