A Full Conversation

Yesterday evening Justin and I went out for a couple of hours on our own. In the last 12 months I think we have only managed this less than a handful of times and even then it was to organised events, usually work do's of Justin's so this was a big deal.
A friend had very kindly offered to mind the children and in order for them to feel it was a fair deal they had organised a 'midnight feast' (to be had at 8pm!) and a double whammy of 'Beverly Hills Chihuahua' to be viewed. Fortunately our friend is as dog mad as our children and brought her own dog too so the guys were very happy. Even Tiarnan who often doesn't let me go to the bathroom unaccompanied was happy to wave us off.
We went to a local Chinese restaurant as it is a quiet place not far from home and it felt really special just being the two of us once we got over the feeling of being errant children playing truant from school!
The most amazing thing about the evening was to be able have a conversation with no interruption and being able to maintain a single line of thought without a dozen other stimuli trying to pull it off course. There are many times during my day when I can have one child physically tugging me to go with them, another two trying to hold two different conversations with me at the same time ( believing that I will listen to the one who talks loudest ) whilst another child is calling from some remote corner of the house and needs me now. Therefore this was bliss!
The last few weeks both of us have been feeling that we are spending too much of our time firefighting and that we are trying to keep too many balls in the air. Somehow the balance has been off kilter and it was really valuable to be able to talk through our current issues and review our priorities. There always seem to be so many things going on at the same time that it's so difficult to get the focus right and be true to ourselves and the children at the same time.
It was also invaluable trying to reflect on whether we are meeting the needs of each of the children at the moment. It has always amazed me how six children with the same parents, brought up in the same home can be so completely different. Because of this we have always tried to embrace their individuality and make each child feel special for who they are and the contribution they bring to what makes our family what it is. However this also means we have a major job figuring out how we can best parent each of them and then finding the time to actually do it and create the opportunities they need. Times six. Mind boggling!
Last but not least is ourselves. Justin and I. Together now for 22 years it's very easy to take our relationship for granted amongst the chaos that is our daily lives. We're a strong team, having weathered a few of life's storms together along the way, but every relationship requires nuturing. So for ourselves too we are going to try and carve out the time, every now and again, to take off on our own for a couple of hours and then go home, a little bit fortified, to enjoy our family again.