>Guys Night Out

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I joked last week about my marriage changing while Hubs and I were sick, but the truth is, my marriage is becoming at least a little different from the way it was before.

A few months ago, I began going out occasionally for dinner with my girlfriends. Crazy, isn’t it? I’m guessing most of you probably had girls’ nights out from the start of your marriages.

Well, we didn’t. We had a ready-made family when we married, and so when we weren’t doing things with the girls, we took date nights, or spent evenings in together.

But now, we’ve been a couple for eight years. We have date nights out once a week. I think we’re closer than ever.

And yet, my small kids are getting older and it’s been harder to see my girlfriends now that scheduling playdates is becoming more difficult. And so I’ve begun occasionally meeting them out, generally at a restaurant just a few minutes down the road.

Couple that with the perks of my job, which include out-of-town blogger conferences, webcast shoots, and junkets to fun locations, and suddenly Hubs has been feeling like, well… It’s his turn.

Now, he has organized a monthly bowling night with his guy friends from work. Which is fine. I mean, I totally think he should spend time with his friends.

At the same time, a little voice in my heart is wailing, “But why don’t you want to spend that time with me anymore?”

It’s ridiculous, and wrong. Yet I can’t deny that my feelings are a little hurt. It’s a small change in the fabric of my marriage and I can’t help but worry just a tiny bit that it’s a sign of what’s to come.

Because right now, it’s bowling night. Next week, he’ll probably want to go to a bar with his friends after work. Before I know it, he’ll be coming in at two in the morning most nights, with beer on his breath and lipstick on his collar.

Or maybe I’m watching too much television.

Because it’s just bowling night. Right?

This post originally appeared on Parents.com.