Some Enchanted Evening

Once upon a time, a romantic evening went something like this:

Candlelit dinner for two, followed by a walk in the moonlight and some variety of fancy chocolate dessert. Really romantic would have included flowers and semi-formal attire. But gone are the days of sparkling cider and roses.

Last night, Eric and I had an impromptu date at the kitchen table after the kids went to bed. It went something like this:

We brushed the crumbs out of the way (he actually popped one in his mouth--pink cake), then we talked about the day and ended up taking turns quoting Stephanie's current favorite bedtime story verbatim.

Eric--"This is Gossie. Gossie is a gosling."
Me--"A small yellow gosling who likes to wear bright red boots."
Together--"Every day." Laugh!

We finished by deciding we were both hungry and so we poured ourselves some cereal and kept talking.

And this morning, I thought to myself, "That was just as good a date as going to a fancy restaurant." We laughed and talked about our kids and just relaxed. Of course, there are times we really need to go out and be away from the house and the kids. But staying in can be great, too. I was happy to realize I don't even mind that our dancing shoes, bouquets, and truffles have been replaced by rubber duckies, rhyming books, and marshmallows. And when we want to dance, he can grab my hand and say, "They're playing our Primary song."