It was a date night we will not likely forget any time
soon.
Having been married for almost 25 years, my wife and I
still try to get out once in a while without a herd of children hovering around
us.
When we were first married this was not a problem because
there were no ankle biters to worry about so we could go on a date night
whenever we wanted. But back then, we did not appreciate this fact. It wasn’t
until kids started showing up that we realized how nice it was to go out just
the two of us.
I love my kids, but separation makes the heart grow
fonder and every once in a while it is nice to enhance that fondness.
When the first born arrived, date nights were tossed out
the window. Aside from being frantic first timers, the Momma was the main food
supply and when she left, so did dinner for Junior so we stuck pretty close to
home.
We repeated this two more times. We were no longer
frantic first timers, but the Momma was still meals to go as far as baby was
concerned, so date nights were put on hold until the little ones could be fed
by someone other than the Momma.
Faster than I expected, the babies grew to toddlers, who
grew to school children, who grew to teens.
Throughout those years, date nights were held, but not
with the regularity we would have liked.
The kids are now old enough that not a lot of planning is
required for us to get out of the house.
“Kids, your mom and I are going out.”
“OK, what’s for supper?”
“Whatever you make, see ya.”
“Whatever you make, see ya.”
That is one of the major benefits of having teenage children.
There are still commitments and being a family of five means always being busy,
but we can now have our dates with less planning than we have been able to in
many years.
This date night involved a movie. We snuck away, I mean
left the kids at home and headed to a show where we only had to pay for the two
of us to get in. It was still not cheap, but at least I did not have to sell a
kidney just to finance the night out.
After a nice, relaxing movie we decided to head home and end
date night with a glass of wine and a visit to the hot tub.
This is where things went off the rails.
Upon arrival, Junior told us the basement was wet. In an
instant I knew date night was over and something most unpleasant was about to
begin.
With visions of the movie still dancing in my head and a
relaxing hot tub sitting in the backyard beckoning for me to visit, I ventured
downstairs with more than a little trepidation.
Had a pipe burst? Did someone leave a tap running and
flooded the basement? Did the washing machine explode pouring water everywhere?
I should have been so lucky. Nope, date night would end with a backed up sewer line.
I should have been so lucky. Nope, date night would end with a backed up sewer line.
Say it with me, “Eeeeeeew, that is disgusting.”
So instead of a glass of red and a bubbling tub of
soothing heated water, I was ankle deep in, um, well, let’s just call it some
really icky stuff.
I spent the rest of the evening cleaning, muttering under
my breath and thinking of what might have been as I dug out my trusty shop-vac
to do a job I would really rather not be doing.
Once the machine had sucked up as much water, and other
material as possible, I knew there was nothing more I could do that evening. I
also knew the mood was officially killed and the hot tub would have to sit
empty while I sat on the couch and bemoaned my bad fortune.
The next morning we got the insurance claim rolling and
began the task of repairing our basement.
Like I said, it is a date night we will remember for a
long time.
1 comment:
oh dear, that's gross.
I hope you've had a more enjoyable date night since then.
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