Why must parents pay the price just to get out of the house for a few hours?

Before kids, couples could go out for a reasonably priced date which consisted of either a quick bite, an ice-cream cone, a concert, or just a simple trip to the local movie theater. The cost: price of meal, ticket, movie snacks, gas, and/or maybe on a fancy night out-valet parking.

Well, when you add small children into the picture, the once reasonably priced date has now skyrocketed! Let's begin with paying for the pricey, hourly rate for a baby-sitter. Of course you would never leave your children home wtihout over indulging them with rented movies, a special dinner, dessert, and maybe even extra late night movie snack of popcorn, smores, or candy-more money spent. Because you feel guilty for getting out the house without the children, you go above and beyond, spending more at the art store, buying special "child/baby-sitter" crafts to keep them happy and occupied while you are away.

When did date night become so expensive? And it's not as if you are enjoying your night because if you are parents, you are probably checking and re-checking your cell phone to see if the baby-sitter has called with any emergencies and/or questions. In addition, your eye is always watching the clock as you are racking up the minimum $20/hour rate the baby-sitter is charging. Can you pay the baby-sitter for just 1/4 of an hour if you happen to hit traffic or run into a friend while out and are 15 minutes late coming home?

So long for the days of grabbing a cone at rite aide for 65 cents!