My husband and I have a date night roughly every other Friday. We use this time to reconnect and do things that we wouldn’t normally do when our daughter is around. It might entail seeing a non-G-rated movie or eating at a high-end restaurant, for instance.
This past Friday we planned to watch the cycling races at the local Velodrome, but the event was rained out. Our date night started to turn into one of those nights where I sit at my computer commenting on various people’s status updates and my husband does who knows what somewhere else in the house.
So I posted a question. I asked my Facebook friends for date night ideas. Most came in too late for me to execute (we ended up having a drink at the bar where we met), but I gave them all an A+ for creativity. Here are some of my favorites.
1. “Make your own sushi” night. It’s fun, creative and you get to eat your creations. (Thanks, Darin!)
2. Picnic at home. Make something small and simple like Breakfast for Dinner and eat it in the living room or in your bedroom. Take your bedspread off your bed and put it on the floor. Put a soft towel over the bedspread and eat there. Lock the door, turn on some music if that’s your thing and enjoy each other’s company. (Thanks, Sarah Liz!)
3. Make out on a dance floor. Note: I can’t personally do this on date night because my husband and I are the type of people who are only able to dance when we are highly inebriated. When I’m sober, the only dancing I can pull off is the kind you do in the car when a favorite song comes on the radio (i.e. the upper body dance step). In order for us to pull it off making out on a dance floor, we’d need a driver. But it’s a great idea for other people. (Thanks, Eve!)
4. Get some take-out, and hit up the drive-in movie. Note: This might only work in my area, where, oddly, we have not one but two of the last drive-ins in the country. (Thanks, Rob!)
5. Do nothing. Stay home. Kick off your shoes. Make a cheese plate. Grab a glass of wine. Flip through the channels. Put the fan in front of the window, and lay there together spread eagle until you are cool enough to fool around. (Thanks, Monica!)
If you’re parents, I also think it’s a great idea to revisit something you used to do before you had the kid. For instance, a couple weeks ago my parents watched our daughter. My husband and I went for a hike, something we haven’t done in years. It brought back that giddy feeling all over again.
What do you do on date night? Leave a comment.
Note: I started a Project Happily Ever After Facebook group. This is a safe community where people ask for and offer each other relationships advice. I encourage you to join.
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{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
Great idea to compile everyone’s suggestions Alisa! Hope you guys had a great date night!
To really kick up the drive in a notch, take some lawn furniture, and sit outside the car. Or take the station wagon and back it into the parking spot. Fill up the back with pillows and you are good to go. Don’t let the film selection put you off either. It’s really not about the movie; you’re at the drive-in.
So the question is: What can you do on a date night if it’s raining outside?
1.) Go see a band at a local club
2.) Go to a karaoke joint even if you’ve never been there before
3.) Find a poetry reading
4.) Browse an art gallery in your area
5.) See a show at a community theater
6.) Drive to a secluded park and make out in the back seat of the car
Would love to see more of your other readers’ ideas too!
My husband and I had to do this exercise in couples therapy – pick three things you like to do that you haven’t yet done together and then try one new one once per week. Ours is on our refridgerator!
- Go to an arcade or kiddie fun place – it’s super fun to play air hockey!
- Do couples massage
- cook together (pick something that takes a lot of work – like fondue and cut up cheese, bread, fruit, etc)
- enjoy nature (hiking, fishing, canoeing)
- challenge each other to scrabble/monopoly – board game of choice
I like the make out on a dance floor tip. That one really resonates with me for some reason. lol
I am very interested.Thanks for this great post – I will be sure to check out your blog more often.Just subscriped to your RSS feed….
fantastic web site, the internet i starved of good content like this, keep it up, the web needs it.
Hello! My husband and I have 4 kids and are lucky enough to do date night every week. We usually go to a movie, but we have also gone out to dinner, gone go-carting, mini-golf, batting cages, bowling, shopping… I suggest doing ANYTHING you want to do together, and if you have kids, doing things (like the go-carting – it felt weird to actually drive a single car without any kids in it!) just the two of you that you normally do with the kids is great too. I have to disclaim, however, that it’s relatively easy for us to find things to do together – I linked to this site off of CNN because I was reading the Jon and Kate article – no marriage issues here, but I will forward your site to friends in need…
You have a nice site
I too write a blog about my large family – I used to write about our date nights back when the kids were in school and our family was on a regular schedule…
And by the way – those were all great suggestions!
We hang out with the dogs, watch movies, and give foot rubs on our date nites.
Great post! Date nights have taken on a whole new meeting since having kids. Sometimes we’ll actually go grocery shopping as part of our date night since it’s so hard to go to the grocery store for my wife with three kids under 6.
This last Friday we went hiking, which was a great “pre-kid” activity.
Other Activities I recommend:
Bowling
Couples massage
Going to a water park
Comedy Sports (a “Who’s Line is it Anyway” comedy club)
Look forward to hearing about other ideas.
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Came across this when looking for other things to do on our own date night. It is sooo important to have this time to connect!
Was surprised no one suggested a comedy club. We’ve got tix for a show next month.