making plans

People come up to me all the time, asking me, "Legal, how do you and your husband stay together, year after year?"

My answer, "We spend lots of time apart."

No, not really. But ever since we were dating, we do respect each other's need for space. Now that we have kids, the "need for space" requires planning and marking each other's calendars several months in advance. We send each other Outlook requests when we want to go out. Seriously.

So a certain person is having a girls' fiesta next Friday (con margaritas - Yo amo margaritas) and then the next week is a boys' birthday celebration. We trade off, you see, and it works well for us.

Imagine his reaction when last night over dinner I told him I'd need him to watch the kids for "approximately 48 hours next weekend." "You have a party next Friday night... is it for 48 hours?" he asked with that edge in his voice.

"No, but the new Harry Potter book is coming out, and I require some uninterrupted reading time. Thank you!"

Hmmm... my suggestion was not taken well. But I'm still working on it. This ONLY comes once in a lifetime, right?