About This Blog

Rated P is a sketch comedy musical about parenthood celebrating the wonders & lunacy of raising kids from conception to college. This blog, written by Rated P's author & lyricist, Sandy Rustin, offers up a humorous and heartfelt look at the nitty gritty business of parenting.



Tuesday, April 9, 2013

The Evolution of Date Night






The week before we graduated college, I started dating my husband.  (Well, truth be told we had a moment at the beginning of Sophomore year, but that moment didn't amount to another moment until the week before graduation).

It was May in Chicago (when Chicago is at its finest), and amidst the floating cottonwood, he asked me on a date. Newly 22, we ordered wine, ate expensive Thai food, and didn't look at our watches once. We had everything in the world to talk about. I remember thinking - "Now THIS! THIS is a date!"

Next month will be our 15th May together and we're still (phew!) going on dates. Sure, they're planned via google calendar invitations, and yes we time our departure around our elderly dog's insulin shot, and there's no doubt our boys will pout and threaten "never to go to sleep" as we exit - BUT, it's still a date. Even if one or both of us double checks to be sure we have the Tums, it's still a date.

Last Saturday night, I invited my husband (via google calendar) to go see Ann on Broadway with me (courtesy of The Culture Mom).  We raced out of the house in time to catch the wretchedly smelling 5:54 NJ Transit train into Penn Station. We spent our ride side by side ... heads buried in our phones, catching up on a week's worth of unanswered emails. We boarded an impossibly crowded one train and came above ground at the oh-so-romantic Lincoln Center. Stomachs growling, we neglected romance for the moment, landed ourselves in a little Japanese hole-in-the-wall and scarfed down food meant to be savored. We made it to the theatre with one minute to spare, taking off our coats (and searching for Tums) as the lights dimmed.

And then ... ahhhhh. The power of terrific theatre.

Ann is a one woman show starring Holland Taylor about the life of Ann Richards, renowned and beloved governor of Texas. The evening was a master class in performance. After five minutes, I had forgotten the ten million things on my to-do list and my husband was holding my hand in the dark. The nuanced execution of  Ms. Taylor's play was inspirational, and the two of us were happily transported to Texas for a welcome break from stinky commutes and crowded subways.

Her honest portrayal of a bawdy, aging, divorced, recovering-alcoholic, democratic, southern bell governor of a state larger than France, was spectacular. By the end of the play, I felt like I was a personal friend of Ann Richards. What a feat of theatricality.

On the ride home, our conversation was motivated entirely by the play. So much so, that it even sparked an idea for a new writing project! (I started researching on the train!) The show was edifying and I am so grateful we had the opportunity to see it.

As we pulled up to our house at the end of the night, we noticed that the light bulb is out on the front porch, and the hinge on the gate needs to be replaced, and no one had brought in the paper. 

Not quite ready to resume our regularly scheduled program, we sat in the car for a while - talking and brainstorming, enjoying the evening. And when my husband finally did get out of the car to pick up the paper and jiggle the porch light bulb, I thought to myself ... Now THAT, THAT was a date.

Thank you to Culture Mom Media for the pair of tickets. All opinions are my own.

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