Date Night...whether we like it or not!

When August was younger we were able to get out for dinner a couple times with him in tow while Boden was staying with his grandparents.  The older he's gotten, the more difficult that has become, so date nights have been few and far between.  In fact, Todd and I had not been out since last September when I was pregnant--quite a dry spell!  So, in April, we bought tickets to a concert at the zoo for an artist we both loved who happened to be playing on our anniversary in July.  While I thought we would have gone out before that date, it turned out July 19 was going to be it--rain or shine, we had tickets and a sitter and we were going.  No matter how tired we were, someone else was going to put the boys to bed and that was reason enough to embrace the evening!

I was a little concerned about August since he was mostly sleeping through the night but, because he wasn't a huge fan of the bottle, I was the only one who had ever put him to bed.  But, our babysitter was one of the teachers from his daycare and she gave him a bottle nearly every day so we assumed she would be the next best thing.  When she showed up at the door, August smiled big.  Then he looked at me, looked at her and reached out for a quick hug.  He seemed to say "Miss D is here, Mom.  She's my best friend and she's here in my house.  Yay!" Boden was super excited for pizza to be delivered and Todd and I were excited for our concert because it was a beautiful evening.  

The concert was great (the opening act was awesome), August took a bottle and went to bed shortly after we left, and Boden beat the sitter at multiple games of Go Fish. A perfect re-entry to "date nights"--a win-win-win, I guess :)

Love this picture...

Vacation, baby

Beachcombing on Marco Island

The last time we were on vacation (at the same resort in Florida, no  less), I was pregnant with Boden, so we definitely felt it was time to get out of town.  And, the picture is not hiding a certain, li'l someone--Boden is at home keeping Nana and Papa on their toes while we're away.

Todd and I have certainly had a few moments of sentimentality and missing Boden, but the two screaming infants on the plane down and the little boy we've seen on the beach defying his mother's attempts to corral him ("Aidan honey, please come here, or mommy is going to get angry...Aidan, come here. Now.  Aidan James!"...etc.) have made us both chuckle and enjoy our vacation even more.

Prepping for Date Night

The time has come--I'm ready to think about going out at some point and leaving Boden in the care of a babysitter (gasp!). So, in the event that I progress to actually planning to go out, I've been asking around to find a "good" college girl who is highly regarded in the mom community, perhaps considering a career as a nun or saint, and already vetted by a friend. So far, no qualified candidates have presented themselves.

It's not that I think I'm the only qualified person to take care of my son--in fact, I can provide a neverending list of people who are probably MORE qualified than I am to take care of my son. However, I know how things will be if I'm taking care of him--I know his cries, know when it's okay to let him cry, know that I would never hurt him, know that if he starts to choke, I know what to do, know that for the most part, nothing bad has happened to him on my watch. And, most importantly, I have that finely tuned "mom sense" and can "see" danger before it happens; which means, I can act preventitively to avert potential head gashes, broken limbs, dog bites...etc.

As a young teenage babysitter and constant worry wart, I had a pretty good "artificial" mom sense when I was on duty, years ago. But I don't think all teenage girls have this, which is why I'm honing in on a college girl (yes, I am gender discriminating--teenage boys are loose cannons. Irresponsible at best. I should know--I live with a former teenage boy.). I don't know how I'm going to weed out the good girls from the bad and how many I'll have to "test" out before we score a winner, but I'm not looking forward to the process.

When I ask for advice on this topic from friends who have been through this, I get the same response I do for many things--"you'll get through it." Well, duh. Of course, I'll get through it. I'd like to get through it without loads of anxiety, an ulcer, and traumatizing experiences for Boden.

One colleague did recommend care.com as a resource--she used it to score a nanny. I checked it out and it was like a singles site, but for nannies and babysitters (and pet sitters, too). I sifted through a lot of profiles and pictures and made up stories about each one which included details of why they were unfit to sit for Boden. Why isn't there a nice, dependable, responsible, single, nerdy, young gal living in my neighborhood?! (i.e. a "me" 18 years ago)