First of all, let’s talk about the fact that Valentine’s Day falls on a Tuesday night this year. Seriously, Tuesday is the most un-sexy night of the week. Tuesday is the day you get home from work completely spent, realize the house has somehow become a complete wreck since Sunday (how is that even possible?), and that you have three more exhausting days to get through until it is the weekend again. Tuesday evening is totally “I’ll wear the same jogging pants I wore on Monday night, just so I don’t have to add to that massive pile of clothes that keeps giving me dirty looks” (yeah, pun intended). Who, other than Gisele Bundchen, EVER feels smokin’ hot on a Tuesday?
But let’s say me and hubby actually do get our act together for a date on Tuesday, and manage to coerce my mother-in-law into watching Em for a bit while we go out for a candlelit dinner. After mom arrives to babysit, I’ll put on a little makeup and jewelry. My husband will put on a good shirt. We’ll go out to our favorite restaurant, order a bottle of wine, and give a toast to our everlasting love. We’ll chit chat with our waiter, and joke with him/her all about how we never get out of the house anymore (do we do this hoping they will give us a “hermetic parent discount”?) And then, over dinner, even though we will really try to focus solely on the greatness of one another, our conversation will quickly turn to focus on something else: our daughter.
Before Emmy (B.E.), on our date nights, my husband and I would talk about future vacations we would take together. We’d plan exotic cruises to the Caribbean, long weekend getaways to Niagara Falls or Lake Placid, and daytrips to the nearby mountains. After that subject was exhausted, we would focus on the movies we should try to go see, the dreams we recently dreamt, and the books we’d been reading.
Nowadays, our books, movies, and cruises have been replaced with Touch-and-Feel-Baby-Animals, Yo Gaba-Gaba, and visits to the pediatrician. And though talking about life with Emmy doesn’t exactly “set the mood”, our conversations are heartfelt and meaningful. The love my husband and I have for our daughter is mind-blowing. We are both awe-struck by the way she is growing up so quickly, by the way her vocabulary is expanding on a daily basis and her motor skills are evolving overnight. Emmy is our miracle, and we love sharing stories and thoughts about her latest developments and antics.
After dinner, on the ride home, my husband and I will talk about how much we wish we had the house to ourselves (at least for an hour…. maybe even a half hour?) tonight, and how we need to re-focus on getting Emmy to sleep in her own bed so Mama and Dada can enjoy each other’s company and start trying for baby #2. When we pull the car into our driveway, we’ll turn off the ignition but pause before getting out so that we can talk about how much we love and appreciate one another. And then we will go inside the house where, awake in Baba’s arms, Emmy will anxiously be awaiting our return.
Romantic? Maybe not in the traditional sense. But as different as this Valentine’s Day will be from those of years past, it will be a special day. Emmy IS an embodiment of our love, and has shown my husband and I just how capable we are of loving.
Beautiful.
ReplyDelete