May is National Date Your Mate Month and it is also our anniversary! My husband and I have started a new tradition: Date Night. This is a regular weekly event, scheduled in your calendar, and is subject to change only in a dire emergency. It’s dinner or an afternoon picnic, a simple lunch or a long walk with an ice cream cone reward at the end. It’s the time to turn off the cell phone and computer and television, and devote yourself to quality time with someone important to you.
My husband and I have made the commitment to a Date Night every Wednesday night. We’ve written it on our calendars – his, mine and ours in the kitchen – in ink, every week through the end of the year. Perhaps we’ll explore a new restaurant, see a movie, “double date” with friends we don’t see nearly enough, attend a concert, or go shopping. But not grocery shopping!
Date Night does not have to be expensive because it is about being together. Be creative and think of things you have not done together since you were single and dating. It’s a time to reconnect. At the end of each date, write in a special book what you did and how much fun you had. Read from the book on date night every few months.
Food
1. Eat a simple, nutritious dinner at home, and then go out and indulge in a truly decadent dessert.
2. Pack a picnic lunch and go to a local park, outdoor concert or the zoo.
3. Send the kids out to someone else’s house and stay in and cook together. Offer to do the same for the other couple and suggest date night for them too.
4. Take a road trip to a nearby town or another neighborhood in your own city. Stroll around, talk with locals, browse the stores and have a drink at a local café.
Fun
1. Go for a bike ride, hike, or run together.
2. Take a class together in something fun and creative: wine tasting, pottery, dancing lessons, or photography.
3. Attend a theatre performance put on by your local college or community theatre group.
4. Browse in a bookstore together and find that romantic book to read together.
Frolic
1. Read aloud to each other from a favorite novel, poem or short story. Who knows where this could lead depending on the topic!
2. Massages at home. Just lock yourselves in the bed and bath, light some candles, put some bubbles in the tub (not the kids bubbles but adult smells) play your favorite romantic music and pour a glass of wine. Now the date begins!
3. Plan your dream vacation. Even if you never get to go, it’s fun to talk about all the exotic destinations you could visit. Fantasy leads to fun!
4. Relive your 1st date together. Go back to the same place or if you have moved , go to someplace that reminds you of your 1st date and relive it step by step. The memory of how excited you were, the things you discovered about each and the anticipation of the next date will come back to you and remind you of why your chose each other.
I love this post. Every married couple needs to read it and remember why they got together in the first place. It's so easy to get caught up in main course of life and forget the desert!