Mila and I had a Girls Night Out last week. I know that doesn’t sound like much, but it’s actually a big deal at my house. My twins have never had much one-on-one time with Mom or Dad.

Mila and Eli came into the world together, and aside from naptime and bedtime, they are with each other nearly all the time. Because of this, Mark and I have created something called special time. I know that the name is lame, but I don’t have the time or brainpower to put into creating a more original name. The point is that Mila and Eli love special time because they each get to have Mom or Dad’s full attention for a little while. That’s a real luxury in a house with three small children.

I asked Mila what she wanted to do for special time with me. She requested to go out to dinner. (Mark and Eli went to a car show the next day). Rather than go to our restaurant staples, McCallister’s, Wendy’s or CiCi’s Pizza, I opted for Olive Garden. I wanted to take her somewhere fancy enough to be intriguing for a three year old but not so fancy that I’d annoy the other people dining around us. I remember going to nice restaurants pre-kids, and I’d get so aggravated when people with small kids would come in and ruin a perfectly good dining experience. I refuse to let my kids do this now….at least not in a non-fast food restaurant.

There are several things I learned about Mila on our dining adventure at Olive Garden. First, Mila talks all the time about everything. I always knew she was a talker, but I never realized just how much until the drive to the restaurant. She hardly took a breath and talked about everything from the crescent moon in the sky looking like a hair band to her big career ambitions to become a princess.

Secondly, Mila is obsessed with sugar. She informed me that her favorite things are candy, trick or treating, cupcakes and brownies. “Yep. Those are all of my favorite thing in the world, Mommy,” she said. One would think that all I let my child do is eat sugar all day long. Once we sat down at the restaurant her primary agenda was figuring out how she could eat as little of her meal as possible and still get dessert. Of course, we shared a slice of black tie mousse cake and enjoyed every bite.

I also learned that as much fun as we had together, Mila still missed her twin brother. At times during our outing, she’d talk to Eli. How hilarious is that? Hopefully this is just out of habit and not that she has hallucinations. “Look at that Mac truck, Eli,” she said. “Mila, Eli’s not in the car with us,” I said. “I know. I just wanted to tell him about the truck.”

After dinner we drove by the mall so Mila could see the brightly lit Christmas tree outside. “Look, Mommy. Christmas is here,” she said with shrill of excitement.

A Girls Night Out is not complete without a little danger. We parked in a mall restaurant parking spot that was reserved for take-out only, and it was conveniently located close to the Christmas tree. The blue lights and giant ornaments on the tree mesmerized Mila. “There’s a star. A star for baby Jesus,“ she said.

Mila ran laps around the tree and asked me to chase her. There I was running in heels around a giant Christmas tree at the mall with my daughter…. making memories. That’s what special time is all about.

Popularity: 7% [?]