Can Mommies have fun?

About two weeks ago I had a girl's night out with my mommy friends. We saw a local play called Salsa! Salsa! Salsa! at a black box theater. It was unexpectedly fun and quite well-done, but I was more overtaken by the fact that I actually went to a play. The last time I did that was 2 years ago and 8-months pregnant. It seemed like lightyears ago.
All of us were also pleasantly surprised to see each other dressing up. I mean, we see each other almost every day in the condo, but we are usually in our, eh, may I say, "work clothes." Mostly sporty outfits of some sort or swimsuits, good for chasing and fiddling with toddlers.
We had fun. After the play we hung around till late (midnight that is) at a cafe, where we were introduced by the chef some Morrocan Mint Tea. Although I think a Long Island Iced Tea would be more appropriately for our very wild girl's night out, this decaf concoction managed to indulge us with a great sense of achievement and freedom of going out solo. We took a bus home(wow, another achievement), called it a successful night, and were already planning for more regular night outs, maybe weekly.
Little did I know I was going to pay dearly the next day. Getting home at midnight meant that after washing up and having a little update with Matt, my REM sleep commenced around 2am. Let's say it was dreary when I woke up in the morning, and dragging my worn-out body after a bouncing toddler all day was punishment in itself. Remember that I did not even have alcohol. It was a painfully enlightening experience. It was made very obvious that I have completely moved on to a different stage of life, and it's very important that I live it with less spontaneity and more judicious planning of my time. Staying out late is clearly not a good idea. I now fully understand what I could never understand when I was childless - that parents never stay late for events. It's a different life, and the joy is mostly in something more grounded than self-gratification. It's about maturing.
So can mommies have fun? I'd say definitely! Even though I paid the price, I did enjoy my girl's night out thoroughly and even reasserted my individual spirit a bit more. And truth be told, I was never the night-life kind of person anyway so it's not that I missed out big time after being a mother. It's just nice to do something out of the ordinary and take off the "Mommy" hat every once in a while. It's also refreshing to bond with other women without our kids tagging along. But responsibility, judicious planning, and discipline characterize life with kids. Albeit, life is so much richer with these qualities that I seldom think the grass is greener on the other side.
It's quite clear now that our regular girl's night out will not be weekly. Monthly will probably serve its purpose sufficiently.