It consists of a grocery store, two children, two shopping carts, and two separate lists.
I like our date night. Here's why.
- I feel no obligation to do the weekly grocery shopping alone with the kids during the week. (If this were the case, we would probably starve. Or eat out every day.)
- We don't have to wonder what we're going to do Friday night.
- We avoid the hassle and expense of a babysitter.
- We get to bed at a reasonable hour on Friday night, since our kids haven't yet learned that Saturday is for sleeping in.
- Did I mention that because of date night I don't have to grocery shop alone with the kids?
- Date night is a very efficient way to grocery shop--the whole two lists, two carts thing.
- I don't have to carry in the groceries, or put them away, for that matter.
- I feel a sense of camaraderie with the other couples with young children who spend their Friday evenings the same way we do. (There are quite a few of us, I've noticed.)
- Greg has an opportunity every week to stock up on packaged cookies (like Oreos or ChipsAhoy--yuck) and choose his own PowerBar flavors.
- It's actually kind of a fun family outing. If we go to Meijer, David can blow kisses to the lobsters and ride a horse, and I can buy a 32 oz. fountain drink for 99 cents. And if we go to the commissary...well, I hate the commissary, so I enjoy having the company, especially the adult conversation in the car on the way there and back.
You may sense just a hint of sarcasm, and that I can't deny. But I have to say, without any irony, that I really don't mind "date night" in its current form. Sure, Greg and I laugh about how pathetic our lives are right now. But we also know that this won't last forever. Life is one phase after another. I have come to realize that it's easier (and more enjoyable) to embrace the phase you happen to be in, rather than fight it. Friday night grocery shopping has become a happy little family tradition. Someday we'll have "real" date nights, but, for now, we are fine with sharing date night with our kids in a grocery store. So if you were wondering if I have plans for Friday night, the answer is yes.
