Going on a date

My friend Koleen and her husband David are going on a date tonight. They have two kids, a third one on the way, and have been married for 8 years I think. And tonight they are going on a date. 
 
When I was married the first time, sans offspring, all my ex-husband and I ever did was go on dates, practically. Out to dinner three times a week, brunch on Sunday, walks on the beach. And I was sick of him, really, by the time we got divorced. 

But dating after a person has kids, that is a whole different thing. I remember babysitting for married couples when I was a teenager, and the woman being all excited to have a chance to get dressed up, and the husband so proud to see his wife looking the way they did when they first met. Usually once a month or so, a bit of a sign of upperclass to be able to afford the sitter, and the dinner and the wine and the play. 

I don't know if that is a tradition here in Iceland. I think kids are out of the house more anyhow, more likely to be staying at a relatives, so the idea that a husband and wife might have some time alone not quite so anticipated. And even when the kids are around, I think Icelandic parents are much better about carrying on adult conversations. 

Koleen though is from Canada. 

Comments

Ko-Leen said…
and Davíð does not actually have a lot of family, at least in the three years I have been here I have met each of his uncles once.
August 1, 2009 at 10:46 AM
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