For only the second time ever, our daughter spent the night away from both of us on Saturday. The first time was when she was a baby. We needed to repaint our living room/dining room/kitchen and didn't want the wee lass breathing in paint fumes. So, my friend Mary took her overnight. Mary has fostered over 100 babies so at the time, she was one of the few people I trusted with my little one. Now I'll just let any random stranger take her. Kidding, I'm kidding!
We dropped her off at our niece and nephew's house Saturday afternoon. A typically gets along well with their daughter, who is a year older. A has been invited to a few slumber parties with friends, but I've been really hesitant until now. She can't (or won't) comb her own hair, still needs help taking a shower, cries at the drop of a hat, etc. In short, I feared her maturity level (both physically and mentally) wasn't quite high enough to meet the demands of an overnight stay. However, we figured leaving her with relatives overnight would be a good test, since relatives are essentially obligated to put up with each other.
As it turned out, I need not have worried. I told the kid that if she needed to talk with me, she could ask her cousin (my niece) to help her use the phone. I never heard from her. When we picked her up on Sunday, my daughter told me that she thought of calling me but then "I would forget a minute later," she confessed. So yeah, she was pretty broken up about being away from the 'rents overnight. She has been invited to a slumber party at a friend's house this Friday, so I guess she's good to go.
As for us, we went to a music festival. It was a couple hours away, so we stayed overnight. The music festival itself was verrrrry crowded. I think the fact that this bothered us means we are getting old. As we were watching a couple different bands, we were surprised at how many people climbed over and around us to get to . . . wherever the hell they were going. At one show, we were standing (no seats available) and one douchebag after the next squeezed by me so that I was forced to have full bodily contact with each one. At times I thought, "Cripes, I don't have this much physical contact with my husband!" Other than the secondhand smoke and the involuntary intimacy with strangers, we had a good time. We parked a couple miles away because we were too cheap to pay $20 for parking. ("We could drink that money instead!" we told ourselves.) So, we had a long walk when we left, but it was fun to watch some of the inebriated lightweights and youngsters stumbling through the streets.
P and I had a nice weekend together. We also went on a brewery tour (I don't drink beer so I slipped my free drink tokens to my husband - shhhhh) and went out to dinner at a Mexican restaurant. It was nice to stay in a hotel room with no dogs or children in it, at least for one night. I slept until 8:45 a.m. on Sunday, which is something the dogs would never allow at home. The hotel offered a free breakfast and I knew I'd never get my act together in time to get downstairs before it ended. So, my husband went down and got some food for me. I asked him to get me some fruit and the man came back with a banana in his pocket for me. I tell you, sometimes the jokes just write themselves.
I'm actually sorta proud of the fact that even after 20 years, we still like to hang out together pretty regularly. I know I am often guilty of complaining about what my husband does or does not do. There is a nag list on the refrigerator that he has been ignoring for two years. I mean, I am not cleaning the gutters myself. That is a boy's job and my boy had better get it done. But, I digress. He's a good egg. We made a list of all the places we want to visit someday, probably after our daughter leaves for college (well, unless she wants to go to Graceland with her old, uncool parents). We truly do see ourselves visiting Seattle together a dozen years from now. That, I think, is a good thing.
Meanwhile, it appears that sleepovers are a go, so let me know if you want a chatty girl with unruly hair and picky eating habits at your place overnight.