I remember talking to a friend who had two young children. He admitted he couldn’t remember what it was like before he had children.
My wife, Sheena, and I didn’t have kids yet, so I refreshed his memory. Spontaneous road trips, weekly dinner dates, frequent trips to the movie theater. He finally remembered and made me quit. While he pined for our freedom, I was jealous of his two beautiful children. All of the firsts, the cuddle time and the family activities.
It took us eight years, but we finally got there — parenthood. We were thrilled to have J.D. more than five years ago and Luke almost three years ago. We are blessed to be parents and enjoy raising our sons. Being a mom and dad is a lot of work, but fun, too. However, the fun we experience as a couple has diminished. We’re not traveling together and don’t go to the movies much and dinner out together is for special occasions. And we are OK with it. Our family helps take care of our boys during the week, so we have limited baby-sitting options at night and on weekends. It’s a trade-off we are glad to make to ensure the boys don’t have to go to daycare. We know they are getting older, and it will be easier to find someone to care for them. We don’t want to speed up that process, so we embrace it. But occasionally, we get a taste of what that free-wheeling life was like.
So was the case on a recent Friday afternoon when a pair of Blake Shelton concert tickets fell into my lap. I called Sheena immediately, and the wheels were in motion to get a baby-sitter and figured out preshow dinner plans.
It was set, a last-minute concert and date night set for a Sunday. As all of the plans fell into place, our 5-year-old, J.D., threw a monkey wrench into things. As we were enjoying an afternoon cookout and pool party at our relative’s house the day of the concert, we could tell J.D. was getting sick.
As we got home in the midafternoon his fever spiked, and he threw up. We gave him Motrin and laid him down for a nap. He woke up about an hour before we were to leave feeling much better and his fever reduced. He even wanted something to eat. Crisis averted. Yes!
Our niece, Shelby, and her boyfriend, Justin, arrived to take care of the kids soon after a pizza was delivered. We were off for an entertaining night alone.
As the concert moved on and we heard openers Dan + Shay, Neal McCoy and The Band Perry, texts were sent to Shelby to check on J.D. So far, so good. We were having a great time. McCoy’s dance moves and cover songs took Sheena back to 1994, and by the time Shelton took the stage, we were officially having a blast.
Then, the curve ball. We got the dreaded text that J.D. had thrown up and his fever spiked. Sheena sent careful instructions to Shelby about giving the Motrin. Then he threw that up. Shelton was in the groove, and we were loving the prime seats, but all I could think about was J.D. and how much he would love to have us home. I said, “We need to go.” So, we did. We missed at least 30 more minutes, but the call shook us back to reality and what was really important.
We got home about 30 minutes later. J.D. was burning up and glad to see us. Sheena started barking out instructions like a coach. “Get me the big, green bowl (sick bucket), ice water and the Motrin.” Quickly, I sprang to action and by midnight the Motrin kicked in and J.D. slept peacefully. He woke up during the middle of the night, as did his little brother, but he felt much better. And as much as we had wanted to stay to hear the end of the concert and the encore, we wouldn’t have enjoyed it. It was great while it lasted. One of the best concerts I’ve seen.
Ironically, the night we saw Bon Jovi in October, Luke threw up on the way home from the baby sitter’s. My mother-in-law kept him until we got home, then he got really sick. We are hoping to go to the recently announced Eric Church concert in September. Hopefully, our boys will cooperate. I’m not betting on it.