Going out on the town. Or not...

We recently got invited to a party in London, thrilled at the prospect of getting dressed up, seeing good friends and a potential end-of-evening bop I accepted immediately.

Excited about the do I started planning the logistics around such a trip and this is where it gets tricky. Firstly (almost) everyone has one or more offspring now, so there are no spare rooms on offer. I looked into the B&B option, which was reasonably priced but miles out of town and with a minimum stay of 3 nights. Then there's the high-end hotel; you're looking at spending between £250 - £400 a night for a double room. Alternatively you could go budget and find a NovaHell or Travelodge but it's still going to be around the £100 mark before you've even parked the car, let alone bought a drink.

Next, childcare. You need someone who can stay overnight, do breakfast and keep the children amused until you get back late morning.

Clearly the staying-in-town-idea wasn't going to fly. So we were left with the prospect of either getting the train up, having a few drinks and rushing back to Paddington to catch the 23.30 slow train home (which takes about 1 1/2 hours...). Or drive, nurse a fizzy mineral water for 2 hours and head back, having spent more time and money on the drive than you did at the party.

The fact of the matter is that unless you're asked up and given a place to stay as part of the invitation, as well as a babysitter, it's VERY difficult to just go out for a few drinks. Eventually I had to admit defeat. Rather than dressing up in my finery and taking London by storm, I shall be sitting in front of Strictly with a curry and glass of wine. Sad, but that's the harsh reality of parenthood sometimes.

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