Philly or bust!
I was so relieved to hear David's response. And I agreed with him. I felt like we had hit a rough patch and our relationship needed a little TLC and we'd be good to go.
We talked a lot with David. Sometimes weekly, but at least biweekly appointments. I always felt re-energized after the sessions. David would let us air our frustrations and give advice on how to recognize and respond to one another. One particular thing that he advised us on, was to take care of each other. As parents, we get so bogged down with our kids. For us, it was life with a 2 year old (enough said), and a 7 year old involved in sports, school and church activities, you get the picture. I recognized that we had gotten into this routine of splitting up kid drop off in the mornings, going to work, home for dinner (and out to eat A LOT), bath time, and bed time. I found myself heading in for a relaxing bath immediately after the boys were asleep, followed up with plans to get in bed early, Larkin spent his evenings watching TV downstairs for 2-3 hours after I was asleep. This routine had us wound up pretty tight. Looking back on it - we had been doing it for years!
During one particular session, David asked us what we did for fun before we had kids. Easy. Friday night Mexican. We'd done it religiously ever since I can remember. When we lived in Dallas, GA, our spot was a place called Tequila. In Villa Rica, it was Los Cowboys. In Albertville, it started as El Camino, then changed to King Pollo and lastly, Ruby's. You get the picture. It was definitely "our thing". David reminded us to make time for one another, whether it was Friday night Mexican, or something different, he challenged us to not let anything hold us back.
I took David's advice to heart. I took the lead (shocker) on planning things for the two of us. I planned a few Sunday night dates during Miller's church activities and mom was graciously willing to watch Walker. And we would squeeze in a week night dinner every now and then. I knew Larkin's birthday was quickly approaching (March 2nd), so I wanted to do something really special. After all, it was the last year of his 30's! I had seen some friends on Facebook who had recently been to a Garth Brooks concert in Tennessee, so I decided I would try to find another event that the two of us could attend. Nothing was close by, but that didn't stop me. I bought the tickets, found cheap airfare out of Huntsville, and booked a hotel. We were set for a weekend in Philly! Neither of us had been (to Philly or a Garth concert), so I thought it would be a great opportunity. I was so excited! It was so hard to keep the secret from Larkin.
I had arranged for a mid-week date night during the week of his birthday so that the two of us could celebrate. Larkin chose to go to Mater's, a local pizza joint. We met there after work, while Mom and Bruce watched the boys. It was a fun night. We probably sat in the restaurant for two hours or more. I had planned to give Larkin his gift that night, so I passed him an envelope with a poem inside. It was super cheesy. I had written this rhyme about going to Philly. The details of the rhyme shared what we'd be doing on our trip - down to the hotel, locations where I had made meal reservations, site seeing pit stops, and lastly, the concert. Larkin smiled. It was a smile that I hadn't seen in a while. He was excited about the trip and his excitement made me so happy! We finished the birthday week by having our friends and family over for a cookout. It was a good time! And I felt like we were getting out of our "funk".
Our next session with David was scheduled for March 7th. I was excited to tell him about our plans, because I knew he would share in our excitement. We started our chat and things were going "normal", but something just wasn't right with Larkin. We told David about our trip and chatted about it for awhile. Then Larkin looked up at David and said "I don't want to go." David's response "on the trip"? "Yes," Larkin replied.
I was completely crushed.
We talked a lot with David. Sometimes weekly, but at least biweekly appointments. I always felt re-energized after the sessions. David would let us air our frustrations and give advice on how to recognize and respond to one another. One particular thing that he advised us on, was to take care of each other. As parents, we get so bogged down with our kids. For us, it was life with a 2 year old (enough said), and a 7 year old involved in sports, school and church activities, you get the picture. I recognized that we had gotten into this routine of splitting up kid drop off in the mornings, going to work, home for dinner (and out to eat A LOT), bath time, and bed time. I found myself heading in for a relaxing bath immediately after the boys were asleep, followed up with plans to get in bed early, Larkin spent his evenings watching TV downstairs for 2-3 hours after I was asleep. This routine had us wound up pretty tight. Looking back on it - we had been doing it for years!
During one particular session, David asked us what we did for fun before we had kids. Easy. Friday night Mexican. We'd done it religiously ever since I can remember. When we lived in Dallas, GA, our spot was a place called Tequila. In Villa Rica, it was Los Cowboys. In Albertville, it started as El Camino, then changed to King Pollo and lastly, Ruby's. You get the picture. It was definitely "our thing". David reminded us to make time for one another, whether it was Friday night Mexican, or something different, he challenged us to not let anything hold us back.
I took David's advice to heart. I took the lead (shocker) on planning things for the two of us. I planned a few Sunday night dates during Miller's church activities and mom was graciously willing to watch Walker. And we would squeeze in a week night dinner every now and then. I knew Larkin's birthday was quickly approaching (March 2nd), so I wanted to do something really special. After all, it was the last year of his 30's! I had seen some friends on Facebook who had recently been to a Garth Brooks concert in Tennessee, so I decided I would try to find another event that the two of us could attend. Nothing was close by, but that didn't stop me. I bought the tickets, found cheap airfare out of Huntsville, and booked a hotel. We were set for a weekend in Philly! Neither of us had been (to Philly or a Garth concert), so I thought it would be a great opportunity. I was so excited! It was so hard to keep the secret from Larkin.
I had arranged for a mid-week date night during the week of his birthday so that the two of us could celebrate. Larkin chose to go to Mater's, a local pizza joint. We met there after work, while Mom and Bruce watched the boys. It was a fun night. We probably sat in the restaurant for two hours or more. I had planned to give Larkin his gift that night, so I passed him an envelope with a poem inside. It was super cheesy. I had written this rhyme about going to Philly. The details of the rhyme shared what we'd be doing on our trip - down to the hotel, locations where I had made meal reservations, site seeing pit stops, and lastly, the concert. Larkin smiled. It was a smile that I hadn't seen in a while. He was excited about the trip and his excitement made me so happy! We finished the birthday week by having our friends and family over for a cookout. It was a good time! And I felt like we were getting out of our "funk".
Our next session with David was scheduled for March 7th. I was excited to tell him about our plans, because I knew he would share in our excitement. We started our chat and things were going "normal", but something just wasn't right with Larkin. We told David about our trip and chatted about it for awhile. Then Larkin looked up at David and said "I don't want to go." David's response "on the trip"? "Yes," Larkin replied.
I was completely crushed.
Comments
Post a Comment