I love this, Arwen—I can so relate. 

There is something so rare and wonderful about a real, adult restaurant dinner at a place where they don’t give you crayons and balloons.  My husband and I rarely get to those places anymore, and when we do, it feels like a massive treat.  It is hard to believe that once upon a time, we used to frequent those restaurants all the time.

I don’t know about other moms out there, but I find that anytime I manage to slip away with the hubby for a real adult dinner I always end up ordering some fancy cocktail ... a blood orange cosmopolitan or something equally chichi.  I never drink them at home, so I guess it’s something about that rare confluence of restaurant/date/no kids that makes me want to live it up!

I love the toddler years, but I also love infancy.  I would love to go back and re-live some of the infant moments again.  It was hard, but I would never want to rush or wish away something that goes by way too fast as it is.

I’m so with you, Arwen! And, especially with my first one, I really “hated” those first few months, too. Funny, though, that it seemed to have gotten better with each one (I now have 3 great kids!)—that is, I didn’t mind everything so much. I think it’s because after the first one, and maybe even into the second one, you gain perspective and know that the hard stuff won’t last forever. Then, as you say, a year later you look back and can’t believe you made it through it or how quickly it now seems to have gone by. I never would have believed anyone after I had my first if they told me I would one day get to spend a quiet evening in a nice restaurant with my husband! But, alas, I have and I still get to! God bless you and happy 2010!

Actually, I think having only one child (without much hope for more) has made me appreciate and want to savor every minute of my son’s infancy rather than wanting to rush through it.  (That and the fact that I had many years of child-free dinners out, so I got it out of my system enough that I can live without them during the infant phase.)  But I can see how having a second child would have that effect also, because of having learned how quickly it goes by.  Bring on the sweet, cuddly little newborns!

My husband and I just shared a similar dinner.  We live far from both families and I don’t think we have had a real dinner out with just the two of us since my son was born (he is 16 months old!).  It was great visiting my parents and being able to have a ‘date night!’

Did you guys go to The Melting Pot last year?  For fondue?  I have wanted to go there for AGES but Chris refuses to recognize fondue as a legit meal.

I can’t wait for the chore years.  When do we get to the part where you ask them to vacuum and THEY ACTUALLY DO IT?

Probably around the time that they start preferring their friends to their parents.  Then you’ll be pining away for the early years, which REALLY SHOULDN’T BE RUSHED or WISHED AWAY!