Date Series:: Staying In–Not Your Ordinary Date Night

Date Night!  

I always love hearing those words and the idea of what they bring: a much needed break; time to not JUST be parents, but to come together as a couple again.  Buuuuut, with littles and early bedtimes and not wanting to spend a fortune on babysitters and honestly, not having the energy to get dolled up after a day of poopy pants, spit up, and tantruming toddlers, those date nights aren’t easy to come by. 

So, I made it my mission to think of and try out a few different ideas this month–isn’t my husband lucky? Hopefully something strikes a chord with you and inspires you to have a not-so-ordinary DATE NIGHT IN.

Yardzee
Bananagrams

1) GAMES!  I know, it sounds a little silly to some, but what’s better for a relationship (and to keep you awake), than a little healthy competition? We enjoy being outside so we chose to play Yardzee one night (and actually started before the kids went to bed as you can see). Another fun game was Bananagrams-the basic premise is Scrabble, but you have your own board, and it’s a race to use all your pieces.

I think my husband–who went into this skeptical–would agree we were thoroughly entertained and had a great time playing against each other. We loved it so much we even stayed up way past our bedtime having tie breakers as needed. If these specific games aren’t for you, there are a million options out there (we’ve got a life-size Jenga that’s up next for us).

The strength in this night in is: you’re so focused on playing and competing that there isn’t talk about kiddos or what needs to get done tomorrow. It’s just you two and the game. 

2) WOULD YOU RATHER? No, for those of you who played this in college, we didn’t play a drinking game for a date night in. . . instead we found questions that brought us to different conversations and points-of-view. Would you rather get a week of vacation to travel abroad or a month of vacation to travel in the US? Would you rather have your own private island or your own private jet? Would you rather be a ninja or be a pirate?

There are a million topics out there; you just have to Google or Pinterest and see what tickles your fancy.  We chose to also dive into some deep topics, but the glory of this is you can go as lighthearted or as intense as you want. 

The strength in this date night: The open conversations and really talking-how long has it been since you REALLY had some of those without kid interruptions, laundry interruptions, or half-listening?

3) NETFLIX (or Redbox or Amazon Prime or cable) AND CHILL. This is an easy, relaxing, and basic date night as long as you can agree on a movie to keep you both entertained.  This wasn’t an ordinary night in. We gave it a twist. I got some of our favorite candy in my grocery pickup that week and we got actual movie theater popcorn (literally my husband left to go to the theater, explain to the ticket taker he purely wanted concessions, and brought it home).

The strength here: Again, it’s easy and for movie lovers, as good as it gets getting the flick, the food, and the company without the price tag of going out! 

4) BEING OUTSIDE. We really didn’t plan on these date nights; we just ended up having a drink and sitting on the porch or in the backyard and hanging out.  We didn’t even talk all that much, we just kind of sat together.  I decided one night we should have sat in our kids’ blow up pool and had our drinks there (next time husband). It was nice to just be and to get out of the house without getting out of the house. 

The strength here was: no phones were allowed; that way we could really unplug and even if we didn’t have something to occupy our attention besides the sounds of the outdoors or watching the cars go by, we were really there, in the moment.

5) COOKING TOGETHER.  This was something we used to love to do together pre-kids.  And, even when it was just the twins we’d cook together often on weekends after they’d go to bed.  But, with three kids and a baby who is still trying to decide if he’s a night owl or a morning person, we can’t always wait until kids are in bed to eat (I get hangry if my meal is after 9 pm). So, the baby–who’s super content–got to hang for this one, but we still had fun cooking together like we used to.

The strength here: We got to feel like we did before kids, you know what I mean right?  I’m not even sure how to explain it.  But, the nice thing was, this was one date night where we talked about our days and still had an activity.

6) BEER TASTING. Now this one we didn’t actually get to, but I’ve got it on my list for next month.  Again, if beer isn’t your forte go for wine or if you’re bold (and have a high tolerance), tequila. For those who don’t drink, get creative–what kinds of juice do your kids drink? Pour each other small cups of different kinds and see if you can guess which is which.

I’m guessing the strength in this one is going to be the humor in it all-seeing your significant others’ face when he/she tries something out of the ordinary. It will also be fun to share in a new experience.  And, hey, if you find a new favorite drink out of it, BONUS!

What are some of your creative ideas for a date night in? We’d love to know!

 

Megan
Megan was born and raised in Omaha; she tried to go "away" for college but it only took her about 2 hours west to Hastings College. After graduating and not wanting to get a "real job" she pursued graduate school at UNL and finished with a Masters in Child Development. She began working as an Early Childhood Program Evaluator and eventually met her CPA husband, Dan. In July their lives changed when they welcomed two beautiful baby girls, Mackenzie & Savannah. After more than 9 years in her professional position Megan left to stay home and currently considers her position as the "Keeper of Chaos" in the household to be the most important job she'll ever get the privilege to have. When she's not chasing after newly crawling twin babies or figuring out how this whole mom thing works, she enjoys the small things: a drink on the porch, walks with her family, roaming Target alone, candy bar lattes, and listening to audiobooks.