I sometimes reminisce about the days of yore when Fridays were always about going out, having a bit to eat, a teeny, tiny little drink and maybe enjoying a bit of debauchery. Even though I was free to do whatever I wanted all week, Friday was the special day to celebrate my freedom by getting completely goofy with the girls.
Now, however, I have my own two little girls at home and a husband who travels – a lot. So as much as I love playing Pretty Pretty Princess all Friday night, I no longer get to drink from that elusive cup of freedom every day. Not every day, week or month.
So it’s not surprising that if I even get the inkling that other moms are thinking about needing a big ol’ Moms’ Night Out, I am in and ready to rumble.
It’s not easy to assemble these nights out, of course. Trying to get five to 10 women to find one day when they have no committee meetings, yoga classes, basketball games, ballet recitals, bar mitzvahs or parole hearings is nearly impossible. What did women do before they had email to try to set up these things? No cell phones? No voicemail or answering machines? Oh yeah, they stayed home. Thank goodness we have the technology today to get needy moms out of the kitchen and into a booth at The Alibi!
Gotta love progress.
Still, it can take a week and dozens of those emails shooting back and forth among a half dozen women to come up with that one lucky date, usually a Friday, when we can all get together.
It’s very exciting to cast off the uniforms of motherhood, especially for us stay-at-home moms who tend to forget how adults are supposed to dress. I trade in the baggy jeans and stained top for a pretty blouse and dress pants, make sure Dad is aware that there ARE directions on the back of the frozen pizza box, give the kids and big hug and I’m out the door.
There’s nothing quite like those moments of breathless anticipation as I’m driving toward my quintuple date! What wonderful adult things will we talk about? What juicy gossip will they share? Who will say something politically outrageous? Will I make the first racy double entendre?
I walk from the car to the restaurant so quickly onlookers might think I’m meeting an old flame in secret. When I throw open the door it’s hugs all around and I’m about to have the first adult conversation in weeks!
Jill turns to me and will be the first to speak. I relish what wonderful girl chat we’re about to have, but then sag a little bit when I hear, "So, how are the kids? Mine are doing great. Dylan was just in a play and Katie is about to … "
