In under a week will it be my last child-free birthday. To be honest I have no real sense of what the impact of a child will be on having a festive time. Obviously the main impact for this birthday is that the wife won't be able to drink (sorry hon). But, for now, I'm really pondering on what future birthdays will be like.
I'm not so keen on that.
How many babies can one solitary person handle at once? Is it possible to have one person look after 2 or 3 babies, so the 3 or 5 parents can have nice care-free night out on the town? Rotating baby-duty could save many couples from premature middleagedness.
I could just have parties at my place. The bloody flat cost enough, I should take advantage of it. How long do I have before the kid is too old to just spend the night zonked out or oblivious to mildly-tipsy adults having fun in another room?
I suppose I just want everything. I want my birthday cake, and a nice slice of my kid's dinosaur-shaped cake too,
Have parties at your flat. If squalling begins, one person can go attend to any needs. No paying for babysitter. Or if the socialness is happening at a home with an isolated, guiet room - arrange w/ the hosts ahead of time and arrive early with baby and accoutrements and put em to bed there. Works for the first year. Once the offspring is old enough to get out of bed and open doors, it becomes far more complicated.
ReplyDeleteyou could have parties at home or just find a babysitter you trust to go out when you want. The logistics of having one babysitter babysit multiple kids doesn't work too well until the kids are a bit older simply because you still run into the problem of where would the kids sleep and will they sleep in an unfamiliar environment and how do you get them and the travel cot home and not disturb them too much.
ReplyDeleteHonestly, my desire to go out almost completely went away for the first year. I couldn't stand the thought of leaving the boy with someone not me, and him waking up and not having me there. Yes, your social life will likely tank. you will find yourself making friends with other people who have kids your kid's age, so you can socialize and have the kid with you. Everything is going to change. Mostly, this is a good thing.
ReplyDeleteFortunately, I know a number of nearby people already who have kids within a few months of us, so I'm hoping I can just keep the friends I've got.
ReplyDeleteWith kids at six and eight we feel comfortable hanging in the basement with friends while they sleep upstairs. Except I've fallen way out of touch with drinking (D never did.) No pubs, no clubs, no point in sitting here drinking alone with a toddler. No money for a babysitter. No time/tolerance for having a hangover.
ReplyDeleteThe upside is your eight-year-old will frequently make you go to the museum, the library, the science centre, chess tournaments, swimming, skiing, curling, or other some such, which are actually kind of fun.
I'm actually looking forward to doing museums and art things again. I seem to often forget these things exist unless I've got out of town guests.
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