My hubby and I have been together a long time. I met him when I was 19 (yikes!) and although we were just friends for a few years before we started dating I have known him for all of my adult life. We've been married now for over 10 years and the crazy (but very fortunate) thing is, I still really enjoy his company. He's an interesting guy!
However, sometimes life can get busy and competing priorities and limited time means we forget to check in with each other. I don't mean the management meetings about logistics and summer camps and that kind of stuff but reconnecting. I am a very different person than I was at 19. A lot has changed. The challenge now is finding time to make sure we don't grow separately and change so much that we don't recognize each other.
That is why I am promising myself that, monthly, we will start having date night. We used to do this when our kids were small, when I was absolutely desperate to hold on to the "me" that seemed lost in the early days of motherhood and have some adult conversation - if only for an hour over dinner. But now, with that desperation gone, date night gets bumped down the priority list far too often.
So, I am bringing back the romance ladies! Well, we'll see about that. But I am booking a babysitter and a reservation and taking my hubby out for dinner. How about you? Take the poll below and let us know if you and your partner take time out for date night.
I think having a night out has actually gotten harder now that my son is older. He is too old for a baby sitter but to young to leave for too long. And his sleeping patterns are chnging and he is staying up later!!! So you can guess what that is doing to our "grown up" bedtime schedule!
I think you are right though we really do need to get out and find the time to reconnect so I am planning to go to a short evening event with my hubby...
Thursday March 29 for 6-9 pm at the Living Arts Centre in Mississauga there is a fundraiser for the Mississauga Orchestra. $20.00 gets you wine tasting, gormet food tasting, martini/Manhattan tasting, a silent auction, live music, and local exhibitors.
It is not to far from home if the kid needs us he can call us on the cell and I'll get to dress up a bit!
So Wednesday night I will be enjoying Girls Night Out with you all at Rosehill. (Thank you very much by the way!) Thursday Night I'll be enjoying Date Night With Hubby! (Thanks for the kick in the pants)
Posted by: Anne | March 10, 2007 at 10:46 AM
when we first got our live-in nanny, we were all over the going out thing. one evening we just went and got slurpees and sat in a park for hours basking in the glow of our newfound freedom. now, i feel like our lives are way too busy for that...but we do try to use our nanny for babysitting and go out with friends.
Posted by: ali | February 09, 2007 at 02:34 PM
We've got a big date night planned for tomorrow. We're going out for dinner with two other couples, so it's more a triple date than a double date. I enjoy an opportunity to get out with my husband, but also enjoy this type of adult conversation evening; it's a reminder of who we were before we became parents.
Posted by: jen | February 07, 2007 at 04:32 PM
I really like to go out for dinner when we have the chance. I love movies but it doesn't give much of a chance for conversation and when your time together is limited you have to take advantage of every minute! I also like it because it gives me a chance to dress up a bit...and he doesn't mind that part either ;)
Posted by: Jen | February 07, 2007 at 09:20 AM
My husband and I are so out of the habit of date night that this past Saturday we realized how truly lame we have become. My parents unexpectedly picked up my 6 and 3-year-old for an impromptu sleepover. We still had the baby, but when you go from three kids down to one, that's just like being alone! We couldn't figure out what to do. Should we go out for dinner? Order in? Hmmm. We ended up cooking a nice meal together and ordering a PPV movie. The next morning my husband said, "we should go out for breakfast". YES! Breakfast... that was our big date!! But it was nice to be (sort of) alone.
Posted by: LoriD | February 07, 2007 at 09:16 AM
hi jen the only time my husband and me spend alone is a)grocery shopping occasionally(we usually go to different stores and he picks me up to go home b)on the mornings when i help him deliver newspapers,usually fri-sun. and once every couple of years for either anniversary(2 days to choose from)or staff x-mas party.which they are having next weekend.oh well what do you do?
Posted by: LAVENDULA | February 07, 2007 at 12:09 AM
Jen, DH and I used to have a regular, weekly date night. We had a sitter who came every friday evening, and we went to the gym. Yeah. The gym. Not tops on the romance list, but I do really miss the time we spent together, just the two of us. I'm going to start regular date nights again. Thanks for reminding me!
Posted by: Kath | February 06, 2007 at 07:38 PM