Ahhh, once in a while during a weak moment I will reminisce of Friday nights back then...
Back before kiddos or even a needy dog, Hubby and I would finish the work week at 5 PM sharp. Since we worked at the same ad agency, we would meet each other at the front of the building at 5:05. We would be at happy hour at approximately 5:10, usually at our favorite pub two doors down. From there we would head to a restaurant, and after that, who knows...a movie, meeting friends at another bar, a show, or just a walk through the city.
I think what I loved most about those Fridays was not only what we actually did on that night, but the knowledge that two whole days were spread out before us, with no responsibilities, just knowing that we would be together, hanging out.
Oh, how those days are gone. Sigh.
Once Poonch was born, Friday nights were just like any other night, a night of diapers, bottles, rocking, shushing, and maybe even walking the hall if she was particularly cranky. For the first time, we actually knew what was on TV on Friday nights.
Yet, now those days are gone as well.
All of a sudden, Friday nights have become a big deal again. Friday night is our family movie night, a ritual that started innocently enough a while ago, when the weather was yucky and we were bored. Realizing that Chuckles was old enough to watch a family movie that didn't involve animation, we threw Cheaper by the Dozen 2 into the DVD player. We figured the girls would relate to the lake and cabin experience since we are lucky enough to take part in that life in the summers. Anyhow, we ordered pizza, watched the movie, and laughed all night.
(The girls especially liked the part when the Baker kids soaked their sister's boyfriend's underwear in ground beef so that the family dog would attack him. They called it meatpants. Actually, this might have been in the first Cheaper by the Dozen, I get easily confused by this kind of stuff, but both movies had some similar moronic scene that make the girls crack up no matter how many times they see it. This is where I can really see their dad in them. But I digress.)
The night was a success, and since then Fridays have become something that the girls look forward to all week. I'm not kidding when I tell you that they start talking about it on Monday morning at breakfast. And it's not like they don't have a social life to keep them busy during the week. But there is something about these movie nights that they love. Maybe it's the fact that we let them eat pizza in the family room. Or maybe it's the fact that we have dessert. Or maybe it's the fact that they get to watch movies on the big TV. Or maybe it's just the fact of all four of us merely being together, with the joy of knowing two whole days are spread out before us, two whole days of no work for Daddy, no school for them, and who knows what fun stuff just waiting to happen.
It doesn't matter. But I do know that I have come to enjoy these night just as much as they do. And strangely, I haven't been missing those other Friday nights anymore.
