I'm not sure why we decided this, but before Simon was even born we made up our minds that having him wouldn't prevent us from doing stuff. I suppose we came to that decision because we had encountered a lot of people who basically never went anywhere for the first several years of their kids' lives, and that seemed like an awful way to live. Regardless, I can say that Simon has been well traveled, and most of the time we have loved having him along for the ride.
Maybe we've been lucky, but it has been rare that we have felt he got in the way. However, in the last six to 12 months, I think we're getting to a point where we need a little away time. Now that Diana is working part-time she's getting that for the first time in almost five years. Of course I've been getting that during the work day, but evenings away are pretty rare. We don't get out enough together, without Simon, and that's starting to feel a little like a problem.
Diana and I, assuming you count the time from the day we met, were together less than three years before Simon was born. I think we're starting to feel like that wasn't enough time, but the hurry to procreate was driven in part by our ages, so it was the right decision. At this point, we just don't get out enough for grown-up time, and it's probably not a coincidence that we're feeling this way because he's in a personality phase that involves a lot of defiance and authority challenging.
That said, we've been pretty lucky to have a couple of people, friends and neighbors, who have watched Simon gratis many times. After awhile though, you don't feel good about asking for those favors. I'm not sure why, it just feels cheap. Lately I'm also not sure how to feel about people we don't know (or who don't know Simon) about watching him.
In any case, we need to take more Simon breaks. I love him like crazy, but I never want things to get to a point where I start resenting him. Gotta work harder to balance it out.
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