Date night on the double

Should we sneak away? No, no—don’t do that. Let’s give kisses and chat merrily as we inch toward the door. You know, a casual approach? Got it. Kisses hit cheeks—one, two and then an extra three from me—and we back away slow, all smiles. Everything’s alright. Nothing strange going on here, baby boy.
I’m worried, sure—cries could start any second—but then Max waves his Sophie the Giraffe in the air and gives his famous gummy smile to our sitter, Katie. Jon looks at me, surprised, and says Max has a crush. It sure looks that way: Max is shooting love beams at the pretty blonde hired to rock and feed and wash him. Max looks at Katie the way George Clooney gazes at Amal (or the way Calvin Harris looks at Taylor Swift? Jay-Z beams at Beyonce? You get the idea …)
Max doesn’t seem bothered that the people who play all day (puzzles and mega-blocks and sensory balls) and rock all night (10 months old and our bean still can’t sleep it out) tip-toe out the door. Heck, he looks gosh-darn pleased to be scoring alone time with Katie.
Me: Hey Max, what about Mom and Dad?
Max: I see you people all the time! Stay out late, and have fun! Don’t worry about me! Gotta show Katie my drum set! Adios!!
Me: OK, little Maxwell, we get it; go ahead and do your thing. Send us a text when you’re ready for us to come home, OK? We’ll pay your friend for hanging whenever you’re done. Love ya.
I get nine kinds of worried that my favorite sitters will have plans Monday-Sunday (and why not?—they’re lovely and engaging and have plenty of friends // family // dates // commitments of their own), so I almost always book a caregiver a month in advance. Sometime circa January 15, I sent my go-to gal a text, “Jon and I would like a Valentine’s date in February, and we would love for you to watch Max. Any night you’re free would work for us.”
So, let’s see, I sent the text on Sunday, but I didn’t hear anything back on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday. Four days and no word! It’s not like our sitter is a guy playing hard to get, so I assumed her lack of response simply meant no. Moving forward, I sent the same text to another lovely gal, and I got an immediate, “How about February 6?” I said yes, put the date on the calendar, and that was that.
Except no, that was not that. The other sitter wrote back shortly after, “I could do February 7.” It took her a week to check her calendar and respond, but I adore her and quality sitters don’t fall like Minnesota snow (you know, everywhere and every day), and so I said, “That’s perfect! See you then.” Welp, back-to-back date nights for me!
I scheduled a double-date at a comedy club for Friday night, and then I made dinner reservations at a romantic steak-house for Saturday night. A fun weekend, yes, but I worried Max might get upset about having sitters two nights in a row.
As it happened, however, my baby boy turned on the charm and upped the ‘I don’t even need those parents!’ vibe for his Friday and Saturday night gals. I’d like to think I’m Max’s biggest crush of all (Max+Mom=<3), but Max spent Valentine’s weekend showing me just how much love he’s got to spread around the city of Minneapolis (more than enough for just you, mom!).
As for my first Valentine’s holiday as a new mama? I spent the weekend staying out late (laughing and cheersing and ‘would-you-ever’ing) with the hunkiest new dad I ever did know. Guess we all won this time around. Happy Valentine’s Day, y­­’all!