Date Night. We all know it’s important, we know we should have a consistent date night, and we want to be able to go out with our spouse on a regular basis… But sometimes it’s just not realistic. There are so many different scenarios that could hinder some much needed quality time with your spouse, and I want to offer some helpful and practical suggestions that my husband and I have had to do in different seasons in our lives.
Date Night… On a Budget
Oh, how I relate to this situation! For the first few years of our marriage, money was extremely tight. There was absolutely no way paying for a babysitter AND paying for dinner or a movie was an option. So what did we do? We reached out to trusted friends and family members who offered to watch our boys for free so we could enjoy some alone time. You can do so much in Corpus Christi on a budget: walk and have some quality conversation on the beach, go to a local coffee shop (if you stick to hot tea or drip coffee, you can have 2 drinks for about $5!), or find different free local events in the community to attend. Date night is very possible on a budget, you just have to get a little creative!
Date Night… With a Nursing Infant
This one is a tough one. First, you have to let your idea of a “perfect date night” die, because that just doesn’t happen with a newborn, and that’s ok! It’s just a season of life and we learn to adapt to it and enjoy the season. When you’re nursing on demand or every 2 hours, you bring date night to your living room! First, we would wait until our older kids went to bed. Then after a nursing session, when we knew we had about 2 hours to spare, we would pop some popcorn and pick out a movie to watch while cuddling on the couch. This option offers that much needed quality time with your spouse while giving you the flexibility of being available when your newborn is ready to nurse again.
Date Night… When Your Spouse Works Nights
Now, my husband doesn’t usually work nights, but there are times when his job calls him to work in the evenings or overnight. When we know that we are coming up on one of those times, we try and go for a lunch date. This is always nice because many local restaurants offer affordable and delicious lunch specials! You can also go for a breakfast date or a coffee date in the morning. This obviously involves finding a babysitter, but with enough time to plan, it is absolutely doable.
I know I couldn’t possibly address every challenge that may interfere with having a date night, but I wanted to hit on some common obstacles that I have seen many moms (myself included) trying to overcome. It’s so important, especially as a mother, to foster that relationship with your spouse. Sometimes we can get so caught up in the motions of motherhood that we forget to take the time and energy to invest in fostering that relationship.
I want to challenge you to carve out some time to strengthen that relationship and schedule a couple of hours some solid, quality time with your spouse.
Now, let’s here your ideas! How do you make date night a priority? What challenges have you had to overcome to do that?
Love this, Amanda! Thank you for sharing!! We reach out to friends also by swapping dates! We watch their kids one night, they watch ours the next time! Our kids know them and have fun with their friends!!! We also try to do date night at least twice a month.
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