...to take the evening off

...to go out with a group of people I barely know?

It may come as a surprise to some of you that I am not really a social person.  Certainly I have many friends and I am so lucky to have them.  And I adore my friends with all my heart.

It is the group thing, that I am not really a big fan of.  However, logically I understand that within a large group of people there is typically one person that I can connect with.

Somehow, over the years I have miraculously muddled through all of my wifely social responsibilities and managed to snag a few friends in this manner.  Come to think of it, as I think back to all of the units we have been a part of, I have only remained in contact with a few of these women.  Yea, yea I get that there are times in our lives when we have friends for different reasons and friend may come and friends may go...

Anyhow, while most of my friends are military, we met and became friends under very different circumstances than just because our husbands were in the same unit.  It is for this reason that I have been a bit skeptical about joining my most recent spouses group.  Not because I don't think i will make a friend in this group, but because I am being a snot by thinking I don't need any new friends...And let me reiterate I am not good in a large group setting of people.

I like small groups...ask me over for a play date, morning coffee, a trip to the mall, or to go for a run...I guess I just like to get to know others on a more personal level.

I don't know what I was expecting...and evening of relaxation in an environment that I find quite taxing?  An evening away from the BTN (bed time nightmare :)?  An evening devoid of homework, timed tests, reading logs, baths, pajama time?

This is what I got:  (Sorry Amy for the recap...)

A meal that was $30...and I am still hungry.
Conversation forced.
A babysitter that cost $35.

Oh yea...and the important part of this story is that when I got home THE SITTER WAS SITTING ON THE COUCH READING A BOOK PEOPLE!

Isn't that flipping great!  Because I had:

Four children still awake (at 9:00) without stories having been read or drinks been given.  Well duh babysitter girl... The whole point of going out in the evening is so I don't have to put the kids to bed!!!!!

In fact when I went upstairs to check on them, Audrey was pushing her stroller around the toy room.  She wasn't even close to being in her room much less her bed!

Nearly every game was out of the game closet.  This should be seen as good right?  At least she was playing with them while they were downstairs.

Go-gurt wrappers on the floor.  Really...she could't have at least thrown the trash away?

There were the dinner dishes still all over the counter with two full glasses of milk.  You might think well at least the babysitter made dinner.  No. No. AND NO!  I did and cleaned up all of the dishes including the soup pan before I left.  The children were simply eating at the counter when I walked out the door.

Every light in the house was on...Can you hear the country music song??

and this is what my sink looked like:

Grilled cheese sandwich in the drain surrounded by tomato soup.

Gross!!!

I should tell you this girl is very nice.  And sweet.  And seems to really like my kids.  I should also tell you I had a very similar experience with this same young girl before.  Am I a dummy for having her back you ask?  Possibly.

The kids liked her though and I wanted to give her another chance.  So this time...this time I was very specific about the tasks I wanted done.  They were written down.  Things like:  Make sure Audrey has a pull-up on (NOPE).  Make sure the kids put the dishes in the dishwasher (NOPE).  Make sure the kids make their lunches (SORT OF).  Make sure the living room looks like I am leaving it.  (Maybe I should have included photos in my list? Because maybe she has a poor memory of what the place looked like?)

I don't know.

I can laugh about this already.  In the big scheme of things none of this is a very big deal.  And frankly, I like hanging out with my kids in the evening much better than I like hanging out with a group of people that I don't know.

I should have saved all of my money and gotten a massage instead (while the kids were at school and daycare).

Now that would have been relaxing....