The gift of a nice meal out

Yesterday was my birthday. The day started like any other day, but ended unlike any day I've had in a while. As part of my birthday present, my stepson came over after we put Sophia and Ryan to bed so my husband could take me out to dinner.

We went to a local hibachi restaurant and it was wonderful. The food was exceptional and the atmosphere was lively. After being seated, we ordered our food and poured ourselves a glass of wine and the evening went exactly as expected. No screaming babies, no breakdowns and no food drama. It was completely wonderful, and completely weird.

During our meal, I noticed that we were eating with a sense of urgency. We weren't stuffing our faces or anything, but we were eating quickly. When I pointed this out to my husband he laughed and we were then able to slow down and enjoy our meal. Still, it was hard to adjust to being out without the kids because we actually had to think about slowing down and enjoying our meal.

Before we had kids, my husband and I went out to eat all the time. We could easily spend hours and hours at a restaurant talking and savoring eat bite of food. But since our children were born, we don't go out very often and when we do, we usually go to a kid-friendly place that will serve us quickly so that we can get out before the kids have a meltdown. So, going out with my husband on a birthday "date" without the kids was a special and we really enjoyed ourselves.

While our evening wasn't the most elegant meal we've ever had, we had a great time. And that was a great birthday present.