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| Changing wheel bearings for a date, anyone? |
As anyone can probably guess, it is sometimes tricky for Jack and me to fit in many date nights at this point in our lives. It’s a challenge finding a babysitter who can handle our brood, then I tend to pay them really well, which significantly adds to the cost of a date night (they are keeping my children alive while I’m gone, so it’s worth it), sometimes I have to pick up the babysitter, which is no small feat when our closest sitter is half an hour away, and then we have to find a place to have a date, which is also probably about a half an hour away, if not more. So, as you can see, traditional dates aren’t exactly something we come by regularly.
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| The first paddle around the pond for the season once the ice melted. |
Jack has always been creative about finding time for us to spend together sans enfants–something that’s good for me as a stay-at-home mother. I can’t tell you how many times Jack has told me that real people don’t say “grown-ups,” they say “adults”, or that people don’t go potty, they go to the restroom…I’m around little kids so much that I’m reverting to their language. So, a bit of big person time to reconnect with Jack is always appreciated, even if we can’t actually get away. While the kids are resting or at school, we might go paddle around the pond together. Or maybe dig a trench to get rid of any stagnant water…
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| That puddle was there all winter. Ew. |
We might split wood for next season. He splits, I stack. Unless a gas-powered wood splitter is involved. Then I’ll split, too.
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| Quite the lumberjack. |
Sometimes, we take the animals out for a stroll and let them nibble on the lawn, which has always been one of my favorite pastimes. The sound of them chewing and enjoying fresh grass is almost hypnotic to me.
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| Never again, Woody. That fence is fixed! |
Jack gets to bring home some of his virtual/augmented reality devices from work and laughing at each other while playing them is a hoot.
Sometimes, our “dates” are a little more lowkey. As in, we wait for the kids to go to bed, then share a treat with each other that we didn’t want to eat in front of them because they’d never let us get a bite in edgewise.
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| Popped corn on the cob. |
When we do get the very rare, childless day (or hour) together, going out to eat, to a movie, to the temple, etc, it makes the time all the more cherished.
Of course, the most time we ever get together and alone usually still involves children. The handful of times we’ve headed to the hospital to birth another baby have always been their own adventure.
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| Waiting for one more baby. |
