13 Going on 30

It's not often that I step out of my Mommy shoes these days; in fact, I can't remember a time in the past almost-3 years, since Keira was born, that I wasn't home at her bedtime. Bear and I go on the occasional movie date, and rarely I go somewhere with a friend for a little while, but I usually bring the girls with me pretty much everywhere I go. My idea of luxury is going to Target "all by myselfs," as Keira would say.

When Bittle (that's my cousin and other half--not her real name, but we are each other's Bittles, for reasons that are long and not that interesting to explain) called me a few months ago and asked if I wanted to go see New Kids on the Block with her in July, I was hesitant. First of all, I'm not 13 anymore. When you're pushing 30, boy bands with synchronized dance moves and matching outfits don't hold the same appeal as they do during adolescence. Also, Ellie was just a newborn and we weren't quite sure yet if she was going to be fussy and/or a boob addict like her sister was, so committing to a full night out that far in advance was hard.

Bittle, however, is an excellent salesperson, and talked me into it. (Shall I mention that this would be her FIFTH show on this tour, and that she promised I would want to stalk them as well?) She made me a copy of their new CD, and within days, Keira was asking to hear more "Kids on a Block" and requesting "Grown Man Song" in the car. An addiction was born.

As the date approached and the bottle drama persisted, I really started to worry that I wouldn't be able to go...then came the three nights leading up to the concert, where one or the other of the girls had me up almost hourly. I came THISCLOSE to calling Bittle and telling her I just couldn't go. I was exhausted, and worried that Ellie would be awake crying the whole time I was gone. Plus, she still was a little iffy on the bottle thing. Luckily, my oft-neglected spunky side kicked in, and I declared that, eff it, I was going out for one freaking night and everyone would just have to deal...including me.

We had a blast. I had two drinks and rocked out. Ellie did great with the bottle, put up a half hours' worth of fight before going to sleep for the night, and overall 'twas a relatively peaceful evening for Bear and the girls.

Here are Bittle and me, sporting our homemade "When I say waffle...y'all say house!" shirts inspired by this video of Donnie being a complete dork in a waffle house somewhere.


The man himself:


Ahh, Jordan Knight. Who can resist a man with a flawless falsetto and whose dance moves are like the love child of Michael Jackson and Chandler Bing (lots of arms, people)?

Vintage New Kids tune:

New New Kids tune:

As it turned out, Bittle was right: I'm addicted. Sadly, this is practically the end of their tour, and thus there is no potential for abandoning my job and dragging my family around the country to follow them. It did, however, mark the beginning of something else for me: the freedom to go out every once in a while and be the pre-Mommy me I knew was lurking in there somewhere.