After 9+ years of parenting, my wife and I got to spend our first full night away from the boys on Friday. Because we live far from family, we don’t have ‘built-in’ babysitters and, while we sometimes get to go out for a movie or dinner, we’ve never actually had an entire night to ourselves since we became parents. Actually, that’s not completely true… Just a bit of six years ago we went out of town for a recruitment visit when I was in the job market. But even then it wasn’t the same thing because: (1) it was a business trip, and (2) my wife was pregnant with Son #3 at the time, so we weren’t technically alone.
Since my mother-in-law has been in town all week, we thought it might be a good chance for us to get some time away and for her to get some one-on-one (or one-on-four) time with the boys. So on Friday afternoon I took off from work early, we caught a matinee showing of “Live Free or Die Hard, ” checked into a nice hotel downtown, went out for dinner and drinks, and had the entire night (and part of the next morning) to ourselves. All in all, it was a very relaxing, enjoyable night.
Anyway, with that said, let’s get down to business… What follows is a quick look at some of the articles that caught my eye over the past week.
Jim put together an informative article on FDIC and NCUA deposit insurance.
FMF asked if coupons are money savers or time wasters.
JLP reprinted a fantastic financial letter from some parents to their teenage daughter.
Flexo complained about gas price complainers.
MBH talked about the connection between IQ and wealth. He also gave in to peer pressure and wrote up eight random things about himself.
The Good Human highlighted an interesting graphic illustrating US gas consumption vs. the rest of the world.
Ben talked about the importance of understanding risk.
Jeremy explained what mutual fund distributions are all about.
4M advised readers to think about their finances before having kids.
LazyMan wrote about the cost of his wedding.
Sun talks about some of the differences between Sharebuilder and Zecco. If you’ve never heard of the latter, be sure to check out Jim’s article on whether or not Zecco is a scam. You might also want to check out his article on opening a Zecco account.
Henry reviewed Web 2.0 financial website Geezeo.
SVB talked about achieving wealth and being a member of the upper class.
David talked about balancing a love of gadgets with a love for the environment.
Finally, we’ve compiled a list of 2007 state sales tax holidays over at Raising4Boys. Be sure to stop by and check it out.
Did you find yourself “talking about the kids” while you guys were out? Every time we go out, my wife and I just end up saying “I wonder what the kids are doing…”
As for babysitters, we just ask one of the teenagers from our church….
NCN
Doesn’t having four kids make you ‘anti-choice’ by default? Or is that ‘anti-environment’ since obviously your carbon footprint has got to be huge. 😉
We don’t have the built-in family network here and don’t go out much ‘alone.’ That’s our choice. I know plenty of couples that have either family or favorite babysitters that are on a regular schedule so they can do date night.
gautham: Good point. 😉
“…(2) my wife was pregnant with Son #3 at the time, so we weren’t technically alone.” What have you said here my friend…I hope NARAL activists don’t come after you…condemning you as a anti-choice fanatic in disguise…:D
How much is a sitter where you live? I know some people who babysit, but it’s $13-15/hr in my town. That means that a movie, popcorn, pop and a babysitter will set you back $100. So we don’t go out very often either.
Believe it or not, my wife’s the one that picked the movie. 🙂
Die Hard, how romantic!
Lazy Man: Kids aren’t the problem. Living far from family is the problem. If we had grandparents in the area, we’d be able to do this sort of thing way more often.
Reading this just about sealed the deal that we’re never having children. I’m a firm believer in regular “date nights.”
Love that you still got date night. I’d volunteer if I lived nearby. We’ve watched a lot of cute kids lately.