This weekend I overheard a woman say the best advice she gives to young couples is “date your husband”. Her advice is so simple, but so true! We can easily get carried away with kids, housework, jobs, and our daily routines. When my husband and I first married, we were young, just getting into our careers, and had limited responsibilities other than ourselves. Date night was every night of the week!
Fast forward 7 years, two children, piles of bills (and laundry), and 45-50 hour work weeks, date night is really hard to come by. It can also be exhausting planning a date night out of the house too. Finding the sitter, making sure the kids behave and are happy, then worrying that they are OK the entire time, all while you are on a time crunch, can really put a damper on your date. Night after night, we find ourselves on the couch catching up on our favorite shows or reading. This is great, but it was time to drop the excuses and make date night happen! Something out of our routine, a stay-at home date.
So one night a week, after the kids are asleep, we take time for each other at home. I have prepared this list of ideas for at-home dates with your love:
- Game Night- Play a board or card game together. If you are competitive like me, be careful in the choice of game! Scrabble is safe and really fun 🙂
- Have a Fondue night- Break out that fondue machine (it was most likely a wedding gift anyway!!). Don’t have one? You can use your slow cooker or a double boiler on the stovetop. Everyone loves Fondue right?!
- Puzzle- Start and complete a puzzle… you are a team!!
- Make a dessert together- It can be as simple as ice cream sundaes or homemade cheesecake. Try making the other persons favorite dessert.
- Movie Night- Pick a classic old movie, pop some popcorn, and snuggle up.
- Try a food tasting- Fancy chocolates or wine and cheeses or foods you have never tried before.
- Go Dancing- YouTube a how-to video or the Foxtrot or turn up your favorite and free style! Just don’t wake the kids!
- Paint or color- Chose a theme or idea and each of you create separate pictures. See who’s is better… That competitive side again:)
- Exercise together- We tried a hip-hop aerobics dance video together… let’s just say it was very entertaining seeing my husband “drop-it like it’s hot”!!!
- Moonlit Picnic – Grab that baby monitor, pack a snack, and head out to the backyard.
- Set up a Photo booth- Pull out the kids costumes and snap away.
- Go camping- Grab the blankets and flashlights, and set up camp in the backyard. Roast s’mores in the fire pit or grill. If the weather does not cooperate, move camp inside and build a fort with pillows and blankets.
- Happy Hour- Prepare a wine or beer flight.
- Go through old photos- Travel down memory lane together.
- Create a Spa Night- Break out the bubble bath and give each other the ultimate spa treatment.
There are tons of ideas on Pinterest, but this list will get you through the next couple of weeks. We really enjoy each other and our stay-at-home date night keep things fun and exciting for us and I hope it does for you too… So go date your husband!
The Crafty Campbell 