Saturday, April 21, 2007

An evening out?...what was I thinking?

A week has come and gone, and I'm able to laugh about this now, so I thought I'd post on a recent adventure in the life of a stay-at-home mom with a 2 month old. Last Thursday night, my husband and I managed to go to a fancy dinner without said baby. And it was only through sheer determination and gritted teeth on my part, lemme tell ya. I will not let a baby beat me! I will participate in some of the DC adventure that my husband experiences every day. "Hi honey, how was your day?" "Ok, but the baby wouldn't nap well today, and there's been a lot of crying. How was yours?" "Uh, I had lunch with George Will today..." He brought me home some flowers that night.

Anyhoo... Thursday afternoon comes, and I've got my battle plan. I will start putting on my makeup, doing my hair, and putting on my new black dress at precisely 4:00. I have to get all this done in time to leave so that I can get to the babysitter's townhouse in Arlington by 5:00. Seth has been napping like a little angel in his swing for half an hour. Just as I get up to go in my bedroom, guess who wakes up? And he didn't wake up happy. The next half hour involves me moving a crying baby from my bedroom to the bathroom, putting the passy in with one hand, while trying to put on mascara with the other. At one point, I grimly put on my lipstick, wailing in the background, and said to the mirror, "Why do I even bother? Huh?" Finally, we get out the door, me even managing not to forget the bottle and the frozen breastmilk. We even get to the babysitter's house on time.

The time schedule is really tight, so I have to breastfeed Seth in the parked car outside the babysitter's house in order to be done just in time to throw the baby in her direction and run away, shouting instructions and a cell number over my shoulder. I find a nice spot on the street near her house, and we're settling in for a good feed when I realize that I have parked about 10 feet from a bus stop. That's right, folks, a place where many fine professional men and women are getting off the bus at 5:00 and walking right past me. There wasn't a large sign or a bench, so I had no idea. The next several minutes involved a frazzled me trying to make sure I'm well covered with a blanket, Seth fussing that he's too hot under there, and me hoping that he's getting enough milk 'cause I'm so stressed that I'm not sure it's coming out well.

Finally, we're done, and Catherine pulls up and comes over to help me get the baby gear out of the car. As we start walking across the street to her place, I feel a pop. The entire bottom of my black heel has just come off. I look at Catherine in mute despair. She says, "I'd offer you a pair of my shoes, but they'd probably be too big." My eyes light up. My feet are huge. Thank God, she wore a size 9. I put on her black heels and ran back out to my car and sped off. Traffic was better than usual, and I managed to meet my husband and get to the dinner on time!

Was it worth it, you ask? Oh, yes. This was a $30,000 a plate dinner. No, I didn't put any extra 0's in there. (Of course, we went for free because we were guests of David's justice.) And they actually gave you the plate. I'm not kidding. We sat down at a beautiful table, and there was a lovely china plate in front of us with the organization's logo in the center. Right before dinner, the waiters came and got them, and we were given them back, nicely boxed, as we walked out. The dinner was held at the Mellon Auditorium in downtown DC. It's a beautiful, open hall with marble columns; you get the picture. As we walked up the steps into the building, a row of musicians played on either side of us. It was a really neat effect. Once inside, we quickly noticed that there was a full orchestra at the front of the room. Have you ever had a full orchestra play your dinner music before? I sure hadn't. In between speeches, soloists entertained us with Broadway tunes. One of them was hired from the Met, I believe. We had lobster and steak and a chocolate pear for dessert. It was spectacular, and I'll never forget it.

This DC experience has been totally unique and totally wonderful. In July, it'll all be over, never to be repeated. I don't want to remember that I spent too much of it home with Seth because it seemed like too much trouble to get a babysitter at the time. Being a stay at home mom is great, and I'm so thankful for the chance to be home with him. But it's important to get out and to be a part of my husband's world. I want to take the chance to experience neat things when I'm given the opportunity. I think I'll be a better mom for it when all is said and done. Even if I do have to lose a good shoe and a small part of my mind in the process.

1 comment:

Momma B. said...

WOW!! SOme dinner! Sounds like another mommy victory for you! Good for you for pushing past the pain!!