Date Night
Friday, March 29th, 2013From Friday Mom – Erin:
My husband and I celebrated our fourth wedding anniversary last week. My mom kindly agreed to come into town to babysit so that my husband and I could go out to dinner. It was the first time we had left Rory with anyone other than one of his parents. I was far more comfortable with leaving him because I knew he was with his grandmother.
Before heading to dinner, I tried to give my mom comprehensive instructions. I spent the better part of last week paying extra-close attention to his routine so that I would be able to give her detailed descriptions of what to expect. From advice to differentiating his various cries to instructions on how to placate Rory after he finishes a bottle, I erred on the side of giving too much information. I was also certain to point out all the emergency numbers, just in case.
Luckily, unlike me, my mother has raised two kids, and has plenty of experience with infants. All went well. I was the only one who had any trouble. I got a little anxious halfway through dinner because things were taking a little longer than I’d expected, but I sent a quick text to let her know our revised ETA and went back to enjoying myself. Although we spent the better part of the evening talking about our son and reflecting on our experiences as parents, it was fabulous to steal a few hours for ourselves.
This first foray into leaving Rory was a good experience for gauging how we may want to handle future outings. We would like to try to have regular date nights, if possible, as he gets a little older. Given my own comfort level, it may be a while before we take anyone up on the various offers for babysitting that we have received, but it was great to have a test run. Thanks again, mom, for making that possible!