Dating in My 40′s but Feeling Like a Teenager Again.
BlueEyes1962 21 Dec 2007 | : He/She Said That?
One thing that’s fun about dating again after 20 years of marriage is that I get to feel like a teenager again – except that instead of sneaking around behind my parents, I am hiding from my kids. Only now I have the added complication of being always connected via cell phone, something I didn’t have to deal with the first time around.
I went to a Christmas party last night, and invited a date, CURIOUS. Before I left, Billy — my son who’s a freshman in college, home for Christmas break — asked me when I would be back, and I said probably around 11:00.
After the party, C and I went to his place for drinks. C made a little show of turning off his cell phone when we got there, and gave me a “now it’s your turn” kind of look, but I like to be available in case my kids really need me, so I left my phone on. Sure enough, ten minutes later it rang. It was my youngest, Zack. I answered “Is this an emergency?” and and he said, “Yes, Mom. I can’t find the TV remote. Where is it?” It seems that Zack’s idea of an emergency differs from mine. I told him to ask his brother, hung up, and buried the phone in the bottom of my purse to muffle it. Meanwhile, C fixed us another couple Black Russians.
“C” and I stayed up late talking, etc. I thought I heard the phone ring once or twice, but I wasn’t really paying attention. Around midnight, my parental conscience kicked in, and I decided it was time to head home. I checked my phone. There were 6 missed messages! All from Billy. He had called every ten minutes starting at 11:04 PM.
I called him back immediately, wondering if something was wrong.
“Mom, where are you?” he asked. “You said you would be home at 11:00, and that was an hour ago. Why didn’t you pick you your phone? Are you okay?”
I told him I was fine, that I went out with some friends after the party, and we had gone to one of their houses for drinks. The music was loud, the phone was on low, and I hadn’t heard it ring.
“Mom, if you are drinking, are you sure you should drive home?” he asked. “Maybe you should just stay where you are and drive back in the morning.”
I assured him I was fine but had to laugh. I’m not sure C would have complained if I had proposed a sleepover.
When I got home, Billy was up waiting for me. He didn’t ask to smell my breath, but he did remind me that I had work the next day and I had better get some sleep. He left for college 4 months ago a child, but he’s apparently come back grown up, and I’m the one acting like a teenager.