party of three

When my son left for college last year, I had visions of all kinds of new-found freedom for my husband and I. After all, our workload had been reduced by 50%, we were down to just one kid. We would have tons of alone time, many romantic getaways, all kinds of spontaneous nights out...Right?

Wrong!

What I failed to take into the equation is our 12 year old daughter. Sure, she is plenty old enough to stay home by herself. Heck, she can even babysit other people's children now! But, given the choice between staying home by herself (B-O-O-O-ORING with a capital "B"!) or join us for a dinner out, you can probably guess which one she chooses! Yep, more often than not, the smiling hostess greets us saying, "Untermeyer Party of 3, your table is ready!"

I guess we could just make plans and not give her a choice in the matter. But, the fact of the matter is that I don't really mind her tagging along. I look at it like we probably have 1, maybe 2 more years left where she thinks it's cool to hang with her parents! I don't want to wish that away. She will be gone in the blink of an eye so, why not enjoy this time we have with her? My son had 6 1/2 years with us to himself, why shouldn't she have the same opportunity?

I have friends who will invite us out to dinner or a late movie, and I have to turn them down, saying "I don't want to leave (our daughter) at home all evening by herself." They sort of roll their eyes or text back "k" but, I can tell they think I am being silly. I don't care. We only get our kids at home with us for a short while and I know the heartache of sending a child off to college so, I'm not in any hurry to let her go. My husband and I will have plenty of time once the nest is empty for those impromptu, romantic rendezvous' with each other. My daughter, on the other hand, will only be a little girl for a little while longer. Pretty soon, our dinners out will be competing with her social calendar, friends, boyfriends and job responsibilities. We will be begging for her to come spend an evening with us!

So, for now, we will enjoy the extra person at the table. The funny looks we get when we arrive at a fancy restaurant with a bottle of wine (that screams "special occasion") in one hand and our daughter holding the other. We've grown to love our little Party of Three. It's quality time with our daughter that we won't get back.



Another added bonus?

We have our own photographer to capture special moments

(like our 23rd anniversary dinner last weekend!)