Mom's night out

As much as I love my children, I look forward to the occasional night out. It's a much needed break and I find myself counting down the hours until I can escape, childless, out into the world. Last night was such a night and couldn't have come fast enough. Dad got home shortly before I had to leave. I gave him instructions on the baby, wished him luck and crossed my fingers as I walked out the door. The funny thing about Dad being in charge is that he never does things the way I would and somehow the children still survive. In fact, the kids look forward to Dad being in charge. Probably because Dad will let them watch a movie and have popcorn on a school night! The irony is that as anxious as I am to leave, I am equally anxious to get home. And as the time gets closer to when I said I would be home, I find myself checking my watch often. I'm not this way once my babies get older, and I think part of it is that I am still nursing and my baby doesn't take a bottle very well. So I start mentally picturing the baby screaming at her father and the house being in total chaos. So I come home and what do I find? The older children watching Indiana Jones and eating popcorn on the floor I vacuumed only hours before. (I had told them not even a week ago that they couldn't watch it because they were too young and it was scary. Sneaky kids!) The baby is in bed sleeping, but the monitor is not on and she starts to cry shortly after I get home. So the children survived, and I got a few hours away. But I was glad to be home to organize the madness and send the children to bed. (Dad probably would have let the kids finish their movie even though it was already past bedtime when I got home! No wonder they like it when I'm gone. Mean old mom!) I'm lucky to have a husband that encourages me to get out, but I can't help worrying while I'm gone!