Happy Hour is for Mamas & Papas too

There are a fair number of us urbanMamas who like to have a glass of wine at the end of nutty days.  We received a recent email from a mama who wants to get out and enjoy deals on drinks and nibbles:

We have a tiny baby, only 5 weeks old, and she's very easy to take places right now (for the most part, with the occasional meltdown of course).  But pre-baby one of our favorite things to do was happy hour.  I am looking for places that we can go just after my husband gets off work at 5 and just get a drink, maybe a cheap happy hour snack.  Honestly, mainly a drink.  We keep hitting up the Laurelwood but I know there must be other places that we can go have a beer or two with no pressure to buy dinner.  On the east side is a plus.  Any ideas?  Thanks!

Where is your favorite happy hour spot in town that allows minors?

Valentine's Day Suggestions

It has been 2 years since we talked Valentine.  The holiday is coming up again, and -- if an urbanPapa asked for ideas to celebrate with his beloved -- what would you suggest?  An urbanPapa emails:

I have known my lovely, wonderful wife for almost ten years, this means ten years of birthdays, Christmases, anniversaries, and...wait for it....Valentine's Day. Over the years, I have tried to stay away from more routine ideas on these days - giving flowers and chocolates for instance. Coming up with new and unique ways to show my adoration was pretty easy in the early years, became harder once children arrived on the scene, and now I find myself a little tapped out on ideas. So please help me urbanMamas! I need some creative ideas for celebrating Valentine's Day.

C'mon urbanMamas, help an urbanPapa out....

Seeking Baby-Friendly Restaurants

Mamas, where have you gone with the little itty-bitty baby to enjoy dinner out?  Liz emails:

I have an 11 week old and the husband and I are trying to take advantage of this time when she is still portable to eat out – what are some baby friendly restaurants around town? We have been to Screen Door a few times and since it is very noisy in there, no one ever seems to notice if she cries – BUT no changing table in the bathrooms so I improvised and changed her on the benches outside. Any other favorites for urbanMamas that get sick of being cooped up in the house?

Discipline and the co-parent: When do you discuss?

I just came upstairs from our family living room, seething at the way my husband had just asked Everett to do something. The something was fine, it was the communication. I have a better way! I wanted to shout. But our house is small, and we've been working on keeping our arguments away from the children. Now I'm fidgety and anxious, waiting to tell him how I wish he'd handled the situation.

But when is a good time to hammer out this discipline stuff? I know there won't be time tonight between finishing work, dinner, bedtime, nursing, me falling exhausted into bed. We famously once spent a couple of hours of our "date night" heatedly discussing how whose method was wronger at a hotspot, only stopping when another patron asked us to. We were creating a negative vibe in the whole restaurant, he said! (We apologized and ended up becoming friends.) Besides, date nights or even couples counselling appointments are far too few and far between to save up all the little things.

When sleep deprivation is setting in (what with a little baby and a full-time job), how do you carve out time to get to some common ground with the little issues of co-parenting? How do you negotiate these disagreements without causing a rift in your family fabric?

Bonneville Hot Springs vs. Skamania Lodge

Betsy has a planning a getaway, and wants you to weigh in on your thoughts about an overnight destination sans kids.  She asks:

I can't think of a better forum to help me with this 'nice to have' problem... We have a trusted friend babysitting OVERNIGHT for us in July.  This will be our first night away in 3.5 years and two kids.  We want to have a quick getaway and our thoughts turn to Skamania Lodge or Bonneville Hot Springs.  The web reviews are so varied on the two places that it has scared me out of making a decision.  Our requirements are low travel time, nice room, golf nearby (urbanpapa), spa (urbanmama), TV in the room, reasonably good food, and not too noisy.  Where would you go for ONE night?  Or do you have another idea?  Thanks for your help.