I have more than a couple floating around in my brain, but will have to mull them over and edit them a bit more before I can put them into words, but here's what I have today...
From our trip...
We went on a breakfast date while in Canada (it doesn't take much to talk a Grandma into watching grandkids for a couple hours!), since we rarely get free dates down here. And breakfast works best, since baby girl is cheeriest in the morning. Anyways, on the date we discussed our two favorite topics- sharing our past experiences and looking forward to our future experiences. After the date was over, I was pondering because I've had multiple people tell me "we don't go on dates because we have nothing to talk about". I concluded that every couple has those 2 things in common, and that should suffice through one dinner conversation, even if the days events are rather boring and mundane. Sharing the past is fun (now that we have some past to talk about, which you don't when you're newly married) and looking forward to the future is just as enjoyable (even if it is talking about what we're going to do when we retire). It helps the drudgery of whatever we're facing today seem more doable when it's all put in perspective.
The other thing I wanted to share was one of those moments when you don't know what your kid is going to come up with, so you have to hold your breath for a minute. When we were at my brothers, their little guy was crying (it was way past bedtime and he was overtired) and Luke says to his aunt, "You need to DEAL with him" (in a very confident voice). I held my breath wondering what that meant, so his aunt said, "And what do you think I should I do with him?" and Luke replied, "Well, sing him a song, or something". Whew. I was expecting much worse. Comments at those times are when our true parenting is reflected in our kids, so it was good to hear such a reasonable response. (it's not always that pleasant when my kids are crying endlessly, but singing a song is likely alot better response than getting irritated!)
From our trip...
We went on a breakfast date while in Canada (it doesn't take much to talk a Grandma into watching grandkids for a couple hours!), since we rarely get free dates down here. And breakfast works best, since baby girl is cheeriest in the morning. Anyways, on the date we discussed our two favorite topics- sharing our past experiences and looking forward to our future experiences. After the date was over, I was pondering because I've had multiple people tell me "we don't go on dates because we have nothing to talk about". I concluded that every couple has those 2 things in common, and that should suffice through one dinner conversation, even if the days events are rather boring and mundane. Sharing the past is fun (now that we have some past to talk about, which you don't when you're newly married) and looking forward to the future is just as enjoyable (even if it is talking about what we're going to do when we retire). It helps the drudgery of whatever we're facing today seem more doable when it's all put in perspective.
The other thing I wanted to share was one of those moments when you don't know what your kid is going to come up with, so you have to hold your breath for a minute. When we were at my brothers, their little guy was crying (it was way past bedtime and he was overtired) and Luke says to his aunt, "You need to DEAL with him" (in a very confident voice). I held my breath wondering what that meant, so his aunt said, "And what do you think I should I do with him?" and Luke replied, "Well, sing him a song, or something". Whew. I was expecting much worse. Comments at those times are when our true parenting is reflected in our kids, so it was good to hear such a reasonable response. (it's not always that pleasant when my kids are crying endlessly, but singing a song is likely alot better response than getting irritated!)
