Last weekend my boyfriend and I spent two hours being people and not parents. This may sound like a very mundane and ordinary feat but for us it was a rarity.

Together we have four teenagers.  That alone keeps us extremely busy and we are fortunate to have kids that call us and communicate on a regular basis.  Add to that two houses, two jobs and a dog and we are crazy busy and often over committed.

But for a few hours the other night we sat and had a grown up dinner with friends  There was a bar and we had a glass of wine.  We ordered an appetizer that was not mozzarella sticks  and had a conversation that didn’t involve grades, clothes or college majors.  When our dinners arrived they were not served with fries and no where on the menu was the word “chicken nugget”.

During dinner we laughed and talked and held hands under the table.  It felt cozy, romantic and very adult. For a few hours we were just two people in love having dinner and grown up conversation.

It was very fun while it lasted.  By the end of the dinner, I had six missed calls and my daughter finally sent Brad a text to have me call her ASAP.

The next few hours while our expensive food was digesting we helped my daughter figure out how to get five hours away in a snow storm to a concert that she had just won tickets to on Facebook.  By the time the rosy glow of the wine had worn off  we were finding a tow truck and booking a hotel and talking my daughter through her first accident. We navigated through the chaos and car towing with the ease of old pros.

There is nothing in the world we do that is more important than what we do as parents.  But I truly believe the few moments we spend getting to just be people strengthens our souls and our psyche and prepares us for the really important tasks like getting my daughter to the concert in one piece.