Do you plan in home dates for you and your spouse?

[Mandylubug]

I came across The Dating Divas blog on pinterest. It has some really great ideas for having dates to spice up your "date life" with your spouse. I will have to admit that we just don't put forth that much effort for an organized date. We enjoy food and good conversation as well as intimate moments but never planned activities, etc.

 

So, do you plan organized dates? Some of them are so cheesy on their website I think at first "wow, I would giggle the entire time" and then I think "Eh, too much work!" I also think about some of the games and printables they recommend and how traumatic it would be for a child to come across those documents and read them ha ha!

[Melissa in Australia]

I would like to go out with my DH. I would love the idea of a date night. Unfortunate I have a heap of kids that I would have trailing along so I don't see it happening.

 DH promised me that sometime in the future we will go away together for a weekend. the promise was made on our wedding anniversary in February. I am guessing he means some vague date in the future... probably when we are 90 years old or something......

[countrygal]

We have little kids and dh and I both like my food better than going out anywhere... so we do home 'dates' I guess you could say! Put the kids to bed early and hang out! We play games or have camp fire outside or go for a walk (we live on a farm so we can walk field roads without worrying about too much.) Finding a sitter and going out for a dinner and a movie just doesn't sound like as much fun. We're both home-bodies though.

[Mrs Mungo]

When our kids were younger? Sure. Now? We leave the teens at home and go out.

[saraha]

My husband and I have date night every week. Some weeks he brings home food like Chinese or Subway and some weeks it is just a nice dessert. The kids are in bed by 8:00. We usually eat and talk (No kids, work, house stuff, just conversation) then watch a few shows we have in our queue on Netflix. We talk all the way through the shows, tv is interactive at our house, so we usually end up talking about a topic that wouldn't ordinarily come up. So in that way, tv aids in our connecting instead of hindering communication. We really enjoy this time, and protect it vehemently.

[Mandylubug]

 I shared a page from that blog with DH.. He said he thought our TeA life was good and didn't need any assistance in that area  :huh: obviously all date nights purposes lead to TeA in his mind! 

 

I'm a homebody myself and can't afford babysitters. Arranging grandparents to watch them is too much of a hassle most days... So we typically just spend one on one time with each other once the kids are in bed, etc. I

[marbel]

If we planned "in home" dates, we'd just end up getting distracted with chores.  Also our kids are getting to the age when they want to stay up later than us.   They'd go to their rooms if we told them to, but... meh.   We'd rather all watch a Dr Who together anyway.  We have enough privacy when we want it, in our own room.

 

We do go out.  We didn't go out much when our kids were little,  though there was once a time we had season tickets to a chamber music orchestra so had nice nights with dinner and a concert.  That life is over now but we still go out sometimes.  I prefer to go out for dessert or drinks, not dinner.  The restaurants in our price range now don't have much that I can't make at home.  I don't mean to sound arrogant; I'm just a decent cook but there aren't that many affordable yet good restaurants. ;)

 

When the kids were little and it was a hassle to go out it seemed like it would be forever before we'd get to go out on our own.  Now we can walk out the door with nary a look back, and it doesn't seem like it took such a long time after all.  We only have two kids, but if there were more, at some point the oldest would be able to look out for the youngers. 

[Ellie]

Mr. Ellie and I will celebrate our 39th anniversary this November. We don't plan dates, either in-home or out-of-home. :-)

[*Lulu*]

We plan in home dates in that we decide what sort of take out to have and conspire to put the kids to bed early.

[QueenCat]

We don't really plan "dates". We do go out quite a bit together, but usually it is not planned, unless purchasing tickets in advance are required or we're attending a party/function.

[VeritasMama]

We make romantic dinners at home or get take out once the kids are in bed. Sometimes we even dress up, just to make it more like a real date (I know, we're dorks). We both like wine, so we'll pick up a special bottle of something and sit around and drink wine while we chat. I'm sure once my oldest is a few years older we'll start getting out of the house again.

[Tap]

We used to go out on Wednesdays when the kids were at Awanas.  Sometimes it was out of the house, sometimes in, but never really 'planned out'.  

 

 

[Alte Veste Academy]

When our kids were younger? Sure. Now? We leave the teens at home and go out.

 

I dream of this. Daily.

 

DH and I have date night on Saturday nights. Our favorite date before kids was dinner and a movie, so we do that now, just in house. Doesn't take a lot of planning, LOL. But we are people of routine.

[mamaraby]

Not planned. We will occasionally go out, but tbh most of the time the childcare part is either too expensive or too much of a hassle. I don't really know how my parents could afford it when I was a kid nor how the folks I babysat for when I was a teen could afford it. Count me among those who put the kids to bed early, get takeout and watch something on Netflix or iTunes.

 

Honestly? I find the idea that any of this requires free printables to be a bit odd. Printables? If that's what floats your boat, more power to you, but I doubt I'd be able to keep a straight face through any of it.

[beaners]

There are only a few nights a week that my husband is home early enough (and doesn't need to be up early the next day) for us to spend the evening together.  When he's home on those nights we put the kids to bed a little early, make something delicious that is too spicy or expensive for the kids, and stay up too late watching movies or reading books or something.  

 

We don't play spin the bottle though, which is what the OP sounded like.  :lol:

[Mandylubug]

There are only a few nights a week that my husband is home early enough (and doesn't need to be up early the next day) for us to spend the evening together. When he's home on those nights we put the kids to bed a little early, make something delicious that is too spicy or expensive for the kids, and stay up too late watching movies or reading books or something.

 

We don't play spin the bottle though, which is what the OP sounded like. :lol:

Now the website had the ideas for playing bedroom games, not myself ;) we aren't planners either!

[Murphy101]

Yes and we have for many years. For the majority of the previous 20 years a date night meant I was in labor with the next heir. ;)

 

So sure I occasionally make extra effort to get the kids in bed and either i or dh would make a nicer grown up meal for Dh and I to share after they were in bed. Sometimes we just eat and chat, sometimes we watch a movie or tv show we both like, sometimes we played a board game or cards. Whatever.

[KungFuPanda]

This thread is useless without a link to these 'activities!'

 

Occasionally we plan date nights. Sometimes we just end up with nights that turn into date nights. We don't plan anything regularly or a certain way, just when a whim strikes. We wouldn't be able to keep a straight face with a list of hokey stuff, but we're not opposed to new adventures.

 

Since our kids are teens, we can be more spontaneous. We can go to the coffee shop after dinner, or go out to the symphony and dinner if we want. Also, with big kids you can easily get all of the sleep you need. I think that helps everything.

[mamaraby]

The Pinterest in question - http://pinterest.com/thedatingdivas/date-ideas-dating-divas/

[carriede]

DH and I are both introverts, so we aren't put of the house often in the evenings... which mean we're usually home together. Kids are young, so they're in bed about 8pm... We usually watch a show on Netflix or a movie on the weekends. But we don't make a big deal about it.

 

We both look forward to when the grandparents come so we CAN go out. Otherwise, we wouldn't be able to afford a babysitter AND dinner. We usually just end up getting coffee and dessert anyway.