Date Night

This past weekend my sister and I had dates with our hubby's. Each couple took turns watching the boys. My sister and her husband took the early date. They went to a matinee & lunch. When they came back to our house we all sat down to dinner that I made for all of us. My sister and I gave the boys baths then she took over the evening shift. Chris and I went on the evening date & went to see Ron White a comedian. It was the first time since the summer, I think (which means it has been that long!) that Chris and I got to go out alone without kids.

The whole thing got me thinking about Date Nights. Before I had kids I remember telling myself and others "When I have a family one thing that is going to happen is my husband and I are going to have date night once a week!" Well, that has yet to pan out, especially since we have two children under 5 years old. One reason is the cost. Once you find the babysitter, pay her, pay for dinner, a movie you've spent about $100, at least. Well, that is not something we can afford once a week let alone once a month. We have had to save that for birthdays or something else really special. It takes a lot of work & planning to get a date night executed. Recently, I read an article in a parent magazine and the question was "How do you and your spouse do date night?" One mom said that her children always go to bed at the same time every night which meant her and her husband were able to get alone time a lot. It made me realize that Chris and I are able to spend time alone without the boys. Our boys go to bed at 7pm every night which in turn means we get spend time together. We watch a movie once a week and we try to eat dinner alone once a week after the boys go to bed. Another way we get alone time is going on road trips. I know it does not seem like it would be alone time, but we plan it so that the boys are sleeping and we are able to have each others attention for at least an hour or more. We both look forward to this time. The other thing is we both have come to realize that we really love being a family, spending time with the boys and spending time alone at home for our dates does not bother us & that we don't have to have a traditional "Date Night" on a weekly or monthly basis.

Date night does not always mean "going out" it can mean "stay in." We have both become more creative in our planning alone time. However, it sure was fun to go out and see a show and have a glass of wine with the person who means the most to me.