Date Nights

So a good friend of mine blogged about date nights a few days ago. Her husband and her haven't had a "date night" in a very long time, and they honestly "just don't care to have that". She wanted to know if that was normal. Practically every one of her friends told her that she was perfectly normal for not wanting to leave her child (although many have offered their services for FREE) and spend some time alone with her husband. Me, being the very honest opinionated friend that I am, told her that she was a freak. Not really, but I did try to share with her the importance of a date night.

I explained that I love my daughter and the time I spend with her, as does my husband. However, we also like to rekindle the romance of pre-baby. We like to hold hands across the table and just look into each other's eyes (without being interrupted every 10 seconds to help feed the baby or pick up a spilt sippy cup). We like to take this time to discuss intimate, personal things that don't need to be talked about in front of a child. And while we could discuss all this at home (on the couch watching tv when the ankle biter is in bed, as seems to be the norm with her friends), why? I want to know. Am I the only one who gets excited about dressing up for my man (butterflies included), having him romance me like he did when we were dating? We were a family before our daughter and we will be one when she grows up and leaves. So why not spend some time ALONE and remember why we chose to expand our family in the first place?

However, with so many responses to the contrary, I am beginning to wonder if I am alone in desiring to spend time alone with my husband. Is it selfish of us to desire time away from the child we created? Is it wrong to not spend every precious moment I can with her, knowing she will only be with us a short period of time before moving onto her own things? If I am alone tell me, if you enjoy something special about your date nights, tell me that too. Where do you stand on date nights?

Priorities

So for those of you who are used to my PC blogs (mostly about my daughter), you may choose not to read any further, b/c this is a very opinionated point about a controversial subject...priorities. Here's the scoop:

Wednesday, the 1st, my husband and I decide we are completely out of food (seriously, no bread no peanut butter, no milk...nothing) and we MUST go grocery shopping. We carry ourselves down to the local Wal-Mart with our carefully planned grocery list and our meager $150 budget for 2 weeks worth of food. (For those of you who think that is a lot...keep reading).

Some of you are thinking...I thought this was titled priorities, not groceries...I'm getting there.

We get in one of THREE lines that are open for people having more than 20 items in their cart, and wait.....and wait....and wait some more. The lady in front of us has TWO carts FULL of food. Now Chris and I knew it was the first (we were there b/c we had just gotten paid), what we didn't realize was that not only had we just gotten paid, but so did every other person in the military and on Food Stamps (here's where the priorities kicks in).

She goes to pay for her (get this) $400 worth of food with her government issued food stamps, and is declined. After ringing up all those groceries, and making us stand in line for 45 minutes, she does not have the money (or food stamps) to cover it (apparently something was wrong with her card).

Now I am not against people needing assistance. What I am against and what I have a BIG problem with is this:

1) The lady was well over 300lbs and clearly did not need all that food...most of which was junk food (I'm talking chips, brownies, cookies, etc). Am I the only one who thinks they should regulate food stamps like WIC checks (specific items only....ya know....veggies, fruit, meat, bread, eggs, necessity items)?
2) What the heck entitles her to get $400 worth of free food? My husband busts his butt everyday to protect our freedoms and the government gives us $250 in his paycheck (for our whole family) toward food...Tell me how that makes sense.
3) And this is what got me going on the priorities kick to begin with. While this woman is being rung up, she takes out her $300 phone (which I am sure comes with at $80-$100 per month bill) and starts chatting. NOW, if I can't afford to feed my family, then what gives me the right to have those such luxuries?

What happened to budgeting in our country and taking pride in our good names and credit? When did it become okay to take handouts that we don't need just because we are eligible? And why is our government supporting people who clearly do not have the ambition to prioritize and support themselves or who at the least just clearly have very misguided ideals about necesities and luxuries?

In the midst of the financial crisis our country is in, I think we need to tell our government that enough is enough for handouts and bailouts. Let people fall on their butts one good time and they won't do it again. Have we yet to learn that feeding someone without teaching them the skills they need to feed themselves, only lends itself to a bigger problem. Enough of my soap box...I am interested in hearing what you think.