Parenting Thought: Papa and Mama Time

Neo is already 44 months old.  Never in young his life had he experienced a 24-hour day without Papa or Mama.  During times that Papa is out of the country, Mama will be with Neo.  And during times that Mama is out of town, Papa is with Neo. 

I know it is vital for marriage that Papa and Mama spend some time together.  That Papa and Mama need to be together WITHOUT their kids so they can be lovey-dovey with each other.  But this Papa and Mama haven’t done that because admittedly, this Mama is not yet comfortable with the fact of leaving Neo (even to grandparents) just for one night because Neo is still Mama’s baby.

How can I resist this pa-cute little boy?

How can you leave your little boy when he does these things?  And these are just SOME scenarios.

Last July 11, Papa and Mama joined Manila BayClean-Up Fun Run and raced up to 21K.  We woke up early and was out of the house by 3AM (because call time is 4am).  Apparently, Neo woke up at 4AM and cried when he saw that it was still dark outside and Papa and Mama is no longer in bed (we co-sleep).  Ate Espie had to invent a story about Papa and Mama buying Minions Movie tickets so he would just stop crying. 

Another scenario that we have is very common during weekends.  Papa and Mama are dressed up because we are going to the buy groceries or run simple errands.  Neo had to shout and cry so loud that Papa and Mama had to either: bring Neo with us or get out as fast as we can and be back ASAP.

And when Papa and Mama went on a date night last Thursday and watch a Cinemalaya entry.  We also ate out.  We got home at 10PM.  We were expecting Neo to be asleep already.  But he wasn’t.  He was patiently waiting for Papa and Mama to arrive home.  When we were cuddling in bed, here’s our conversation:

Mama:  Neo, kumain ka na ba?

Neo: Opo. Tsaka nag-inom na ako ng milk.

Mama: Naghugas ka na din ng katawan?

Neo: Opo.

Mama: Bakit hindi ka pa natutulog?

Neo: Kasi antay ko kayo ni Papa.

Listening to this little boy say this, makes me wonder.  When will I ever swallow the guilt and have Papa and Mama Time?  Because as of now, I really can’t.