Before I even launch into the rest of this post, I'll tell you that it is just as much for my benefit as it is for yours! I'm being a selfish blogger today and I am totally okay with it because....
T and I stink at date night...really and truly. We've been married for 10 years and have two beautiful little girls, but rarely do we make going out together, alone, a priority. I go out with friends fairly often, and he occasionally leaves the comfort of the leather couch long enough to grab a beer or see a game with buddies...but we don't go on dates. He works a lot, long hours, but we need to stop using that as an excuse to be lazy. One of my 2012 Goals is to plan more dates, so I'm hoping this round-up of Pinterest Inspiration will help me as much as it will help you!
Some of these Pins lead to entire lists of tips and date ideas, so be sure to click over to check them out!
That last Pin is a whole amazing blog devoted to Dating Ideas. Definitely worth clicking over for. Yes, Valentine's Day is coming up, but shouldn't we make an effort year round?
I'm curious. Do you "date" your spouse or significant other? Is it hard for you to make that special time a priority with everything else in your life? Am I the only one??
What's your favorite date night idea?
My husband and I love to go on dates. They have been a little less frequent since having our daughter late last year. We do have a special night out planned in a few weeks though. Yesterday we left our little girls and dog with my parents for the day. We felt like we were on a date except for the fact we were headed to a funeral!
ReplyDeleteJason and I aren't very good at date night either. We usually just do dinner, maybe a movie, and then a trip to Target before we head home:) We did go to a concert back in November and we stayed overnight. And we like to go out with one of our couple friends sometimes too!
ReplyDeleteGreat post! I think that when you have kids, especially little ones like we do, unless you are Real Housewife that has nannies and a staff to take care of your kids then you don't go out on many dates. My dh and I are in the same boat.
ReplyDeleteI've been trying to think of something special to do for Valentine's Day and I think making one of those baskets would be great. Now if we could just get our son to go to bed so we could actually watch a movie at night, then we would be good to go. LOL
We do still go on dates! Maybe not as often as we'd like, but we definitely make the time to do it. I think our favorite is the typical dinner and movie. The reason behind that is that even though it's the cliche one, it's SO very rare to have 4 FREE hours without thinking about any real responsibilities. So we get to talk the entire time through dinner ,and then cuddle for 2 hours through the movie. Delightful and a great combo. Another thing I think is important is going out with friends still too. So about every 3rd date night, we do the dinner part with friends. I think it's important to still have adult conversations with adult couples. It makes us feel like there IS life around kids.
ReplyDeleteWe don't go out a lot on "dates" at night, however we do usually go for coffee each morning and the occassional breakfast when hubby can go in later to work. Next year we will be empty nesters with our youngest away at college. Guess you could say then we'll be having date night EVERY night!
ReplyDeleteI'm sad to say that my husband and I stink at making time for ourselves to go out without the kids. We actually did go out to dinner with another couple a few weeks ago but before that I can't remember how long ago it had been.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing all of these links. I happened to discover The Dating Divas on Pinterest recently and love some of their ideas.
One of the "goals" I have for myself this year is to make a more intentional effort with my husband. Our situation is unique in that we see each other a lot. He works from home almost every day so we are around each other a lot more than most couples. But even though we see each other we still need to set aside time to really focus on each other. We haven't come up with any plans for Valentine's so I am hoping to get inspired with these ideas.
Thanks again,
Jennifer
Real Salt Lake saved my marriage! Just kidding. We weren't on the brink of divorce, or anywhere near it. But like you we rarely made an effort to have "dates". It seemed like if there was a night he wasn't working and I didn't have a meeting with the school or church - we just wanted to stay home and be lazy!
ReplyDeleteBut since we started going to the soccer games, we've had a great time "dating". Sometimes it's just the game, and sometimes, if we're feelin' rich - we go to dinner before. But we always have a blast. I think finding an interest we both really love has made it so much easier to have dates. Of course the games tend to cost money (how lame). Luckily Santa gave us tickets to the first 5 games of the season for Christmas this year!
Honestly, I think dates are really important for a married couple, but it's really hard when your kids are little! For one thing, babysitters are EXPENSIVE. Second, you're so tired by the time evening rolls around, you mostly just want to go to sleep!
ReplyDeleteJack and I used to occasionally have a whole date day. We'd get a trusted babysitter (a grandmother would be even better!) and leave the girls for a whole day. We'd drive to a larger town nearby, where we'd go out to lunch, take in a matinee movie, browse the bookstore, and go out to dinner. Sort of lots of dates in one day--it was kind of like falling in love all over again! :)
Thanks for the round-up. Good for married couples of any age!
Great post! Thank you for the ideas!
ReplyDeleteWe make an effort, and usually get out about once a month. It feels like such a treat!
ReplyDeleteMy husband and I definetly need to work on this subject....the work thing gets in the way though :( Thanks for the link ideas...I check them out!
ReplyDeleteWe try to make anything we do together special. Watching football...I make special snacks and put mugs in the freezer to ice over for beers!! Shopping...we go somewhere special to lunch after we do our errands. Stuff like that!
ReplyDeleteHugs
SUeAnn