So my husband and I are thinking about going out with some friends this weekend, like noon until 10pm (at the very latest). We usually hang out with these friends with our kids because our friends are the godparents and love spending time with them. But we want a weekend to be adults. My family who usually sits for us isn’t available this weekend, so we’d have to hire a new babysitter.

My issue is that my 3 year old would be very upset. He still gets upset when my family comes over to sit him, like my sister watched him for a whole week when daycare was closed and he was upset the entire time. (But obviously he goes to daycare and is perfectly ok without us for an extended time.) I can hardly imagine what he’d be like if we left him with a stranger.

I feel like knowing he’ll be so upset about it and doing it anyway makes me a bad parent, or like I’m being mean to him. Am I? If it’s ok to leave him, any advice?