Oh Yes I Did

Last night I was telling Matt how my friend Sheena, waiting for her baby to arrive, was going to see the new Harry Potter. I guess he could hear the longing in my voice, especially after a trying day, because the next thing he was offering me an entire Sunday afternoon to see Harry Potter and do whatever else might make me happy. Even if he wanted to rescind, I don't think I would have heard him, seeing as my grin was taking over my entire head, threatening the reliability of my hearing. I was kind of excited.

So after a morning with my girls, and a trip to the very last farmer's market of the season, I headed out the door for my afternoon date with Harry Potter. I was leaving quite early in order to get a ticket, and between the thirty minute driving time to and from the theater, I was going to be gone for five hours. This was slightly monumental.

Alyce never took a bottle, and so I was tied very closely to her during that first year (she was so stubborn about her preference for boobs that when she started daycare at thirteen months, she wouldn't take a single sip of anything all day, waiting instead for me and my personal milk supply to pick her up). I loved breastfeeding Alyce and so I never actually minded not being able to spend much time away from her, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't have enjoyed an afternoon to myself some days.

With Shira our situation is a bit different and I needed to work away from the office a few mornings a week. Matt stays home with her most mornings, and at first he and Shira would head over to my office and I'd try to nurse her, but it was difficult to get the timing right. So Matt tried giving her some expressed milk and after a couple of weeks we had success. As much as there are times when I don't love sharing her, I know Matt loves being able to feed her sometimes. And I'm not going to bad-talk some of the freedom this allows me.

So back to me and my afternoon, shall we? I bought my ticket, bought some lunch that I ate while reading a book, ran a few errands, and watched Harry Potter from the inside of a vat of popcorn. This was a day for the history books. Thank you, Matty.

p.s. Harry Potter was fantastic. It was beautifully shot and just flew by. But there was such a sadness about the story this time, and some very realistic violence, that I can't imagine taking a little one to see it. All day I've been trying to figure out what the best age is to introduce Harry Potter to Alyce (the books, not the movies). Any thoughts?