Parental Entertainment Improvisation

Today, I shall feature the innovative entertainment techniques of two sets of college friend parents I saw at a wedding in Chicago last week.

-E & S both work full time while raising a three-year-old and nearly one-year-old. They both have responsible jobs, and they find themselves with very little time. They moved into a new apartment just days before the baby was born. They don't have a TV. They said when they get a hankering to watch a movie, they just go online and watch ten trailers and then go to bed. That way, they at least know what their less-busy friends and coworkers are talking about when the subject of movies comes up. They said if they really like a trailer, they'll watch it a second time.
-L & A (whose last name start with J) have four boys ranging from 4 to 14. They live and work in the Washington, DC area. A told me that he would really like it if they could go out to a club and dance once in a while. He went out one night with a male friend to try out a club they could take their wives to, but it was really cold, and it was hard to park, and they just turned around and drove home. After that attempt, L & A hit on a new strategy: they bought two strobe lights and a disco ball. When they get that club hankering, they put their boys to bed, pull out the strobes and disco ball and set them up in the basement. They turn on music and dance, just the two of them. They call it "Club J". It's the best thing I've heard of in a long time that a couple does to keep the fun and magic in their marriage.

So there you go: parenting life too full of hassles? Just go to the previews in your living room, or put a velvet rope in front of the basement door and shake your tail feather down there.