I recently informed Beau that he ought to do the chivalrous thing and plan a date for the two of us, start to finish.  As in:  You find a babysitter!  He was a little annoyed at my suggestion at first — I guess we’ve gotten to that point in our marriage where grand gestures aren’t as common as they once were — but by golly he followed through.  Good thing Beau has a really brave buddy named Stacey.

Stacey picked the kids up at our house about 3 p.m.  He and his wife Tiff manhandled 2-year-old Muggins while their kids had a big time — as usual — with ours.  Stacey kept us updated with photos as the evening went on:

As for me and Beau and our date, first he took me for a drive.  We headed north of ranch headquarters, up the Ingomar Road and down the Mission Valley Road, looking at good country all along the way.  Back at the house we couldn’t decide if we should be responsible and work on taxes… or just kick back and watch a movie together… so we did a little of both.

We picked up tired and happy kids at the Ogrens’ a little before 10:00.  We all decided that our group of friends should just keep a regular kid-swap going:  We’ll keep yours tonight so you can have a date / You keep ours tomorrow.  You know, when you’re in the thick of parenthood, it can be tough to ask for help like this (definitely so here in Eastern Montana where we pride ourselves in never needing help).  We’re all happy to give… but how nice to just know you’ve got a little guilt-free compensation coming your way?  I think it’s a win-win-win!

© Tami Blake