It's a date

I went on a date yesterday afternoon, though it wasn't with my husband. Mark didn't seem to mind, though. My date was a cute 6-year-old who talked my ear off about Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. That's right, Ben was my date. Mark and I had been meaning to set aside alone time with the older boys for quite a while now, and we finally got around to it.

While I took Ben out to lunch at Atlanta Bread Company and then to a movie, Paulie and Mark went to lunch and then to Monkey Joe's. The one-on-one time was great. Since Gus's arrival, the time I have been able to spend bonding with Ben has dwindled. He's the oldest, and we expect a lot of him (maybe too much?). So while Mark or I still snuggle with Paul and Gus at bedtime, Ben doesn't get as much of that as he might like. Ordinarily it's difficult to give 100 percent of my attention to Ben at any given time, so it was nice to have a couple hours in which I could just listen to what he had to say.

After lunch, we headed to the theater to take in "Hotel for Dogs." If Mark were my date, I probably would have chosen a chick flick, but I decided to let Ben choose. I recommend the movie for you and your 6-year-old date. Ben and I sat in of those seats made for two, and I even snuck in a little snuggle time during the scarier parts.

Next up is my date with Paulie. I can only imagine where he'll take me.