This year, two of my closest and dearest friends announced that they were each expecting. As you can imagine, this was news that brought great joy and excitement. For each of their pregnancies they gave up their great loves; soft cheese for Jenna, sugary sweets and chocolate for Katie. Now that each of their bundles of joy have arrived, we knew that this Christmas our celebrations would be very different. So we decided to have a Girls’ Night In.
You will have met Jenna and Katie before when I blogged about their baby showers. With each Daddy happily holding the fort for the evening, the girls arrived at mine for our Christmas Girls’ Night In. Katie’s little girl is only weeks old and this was the first time she’d been apart from her. It’s understandable and natural that she’d prefer a night in. Even though I don’t have children, I’d always choose a night in with the girls than out on the town.
It seems we’re not alone. Research conducted by Ladbrokes Bingo found a staggering 70% of women asked preferred a night in with the girls than out on the town. 14% of women stated bumping into an ex-partner as a reason they preferred to stay in, I hear you sisters!
With only a pit stop for pizza, we cracked open the bottle of Dr. Pepper (it was a school night after all) and launched into catch up mode. Sharing pictures of their little ones lead into their birth stories, something that equally fascinated and frightened me at the same time. What was undeniable was their sheer, unadulterated happiness that shone through every word.
As all good hostesses should, I topped up their glasses and filled their plates with pizza, snapping pictures as I went until I heard Jenna’s immortal words, ‘You’re not going to blog us, are you?’ Busted! Permission granted under duress, we settled in to watch a spot of television and to carry on with our gossiping.
Before long, it was time for the ladies to go. After all, they had wee infants to see and, well, I just had work to go to in the morning. Even though I wouldn’t rule out a night on the town any time soon, I’ll happily enjoy a girls’ night in!