Anything Once: Girls night out - after baby

It didn’t hit me that it was really going to happen until Sofia was asleep in bed. I rushed into the bathroom to throw on some make up and ran then ran out to the living room. In a desperate whisper, I implored my husband, “I’m going out – what in the world do I wear?” 


I've primarily been sporting PJs or workout clothes. When I go out I always have to calculate the nursing factor, which means I've been circulating through about 6 tank tops and three other shirts for 5 whole months. I barely recall how to dress any other way.

It had been 14 months since I’d gone out without a human inside of/physically attached to my body. I had forgotten how this was supposed to work. I threw on the one dress in my closet that was not an old bridesmaids’ dress or my own wedding dress. I crawled under the bed to find a pair of heels that were collecting dust from over a year of disuse:

I stood stunned at the door, staring at my husband, waiting for a baby's cry to bring me back to what must be reality, but nothing stopped me, so off I went.

As I drove away, a series of thoughts flew through my head:

1)    Pull into the far left lane, you’re a carpool. Wait. No. You can’t drive in the carpool lane. No one else is in the car!

2)    Adele’s “Rolling in the deep” comes on the radio. Oh yeah. Now I’m getting pumped up and excited.

3)    On the freeway now, wish I could leave the windows down – the rush of wind through my hair helps to prep my mood – but for once my hair is “done” so up the windows go.

4)    “Rolling into deep” ends and the following songs and stale air start to be a downer on my mood.

5)    Maybe if I drove faster, that would help keep my excitement rising. I wish I had a convertible right now.

6)    This is too good to be true. I’m speeding, my car feels totally different without an infant babbling in the back seat, something is bound to go wrong. I should really slow down and turn on my defensive driving brain.

7)    Oh shoot, there’s my exit. How am I gonna get around the big rig between my lane and the exit lane?

8)    Oops! Sorry dude I just cut off. Thank you for not crashing into me!

9)    Phew. Made it off the freeway in one piece.

10“There's a fire starting in my heart . . .” Adele’s on again?! Song of the night! Mood is back up.

I went on in to the restaurant. It was awkward figuring out how to relate socially again without a baby to attend to. But everyone was so kind and gracious that I was eventually able to ease back into human interaction and have a great night. Night – as in the time after the sun goes down. Wow. Forgot what the world looked like then!  I sure hope this “anything once” gets many-a-repeat performance!