A couple of weeks ago, my Husband told me he nominated for an award, and BOTH of us were invited to Washington DC.
The Army said BOTH. You know how rare that is?
I seriously did not give it much thought, after he had brought it up. The logistics of childcare for 4 ENTIRE days, yeah impossible. Who does one ask for 4 days of babysitting? I had never done this before, and frankly it seems like a HUGE FAVOR. HUGE.
I was speaking to my Father on the phone that evening, and mentioned it in passing. (Let me add here, my Father ALWAYS uses speaker phone, ALWAYS) His girlfriend was at the house, and overheard the conversation, and before I knew it they were asking WHEN I needed them.
I was taken back by the offer. I really was. It has been about 7.5 years since DH and I have been alone for more than 4 hours. And it has been fine with both of us, time has just gotten away from us. WE try and have a date night, here and there, but frankly with the logistics nightmare of locating a sitter and needing to take out a loan for a dinner, movie, and a sitter, well we have settled on date nights at home with a netflix account.
I think this is a common issue for military families. Finding a reliable babysitter, finding the time between being in the field, training, deployments, and the economics of it.
It took me a while to accept this offer from my Father , but DH and I decided it was time. We need a little time alone to reconnect, to have a conversation, to check in with one another and make sure we are on the same road headed the same direction. We used to do this often, before children. There are not enough hours in the day.
After we accepted my Father's assistance I began having second thoughts and some anxiety about being alone for 4 days.
"What on Earth are we going to do for 4 WHOLE days ALONE?" I was seriously concerned that after 17 1/2 years of marriage, he has heard everything, seen everything, and can finish my thoughts before they exit my mouth. Are we going to be "those people" that we see dining in pairs in silence? How awkward is this going to be? We do not have to unload children from the car, or go to a family friendly dining in which you cannot hear each other speak.
And after about 2 days, I was done with the anxiety involved. It was pure silliness.
And now, I am excited. Because, In about one week I will be alone with my husband dining quietly, having a cocktail, holding hands and I might even kiss him in the street or the elevator! I get to hold his hand as he accepts an award. We will get to speak to one another until we run out of things to say, heck we might even make out.
I cannot wait.
