Monday, January 3, 2011

Are You Dating?

How many of you have a planned date night with your spouse each week and if not, what's keeping you from doing so?

15 comments:

Sara Jenkins said...

During our pre marital counseloring we were advised to choose a night of the week to set as our Date Night! We were to hold it sacred especially when children joined our family. We have held to that for ten years making Friday night our Date Night. It was what helped kept us connected when things were so unbalanced. I can't imagine a week without it. It is what I look forward to!

Caroline said...

Good question and a good reason to ask myself...why aren't we doing this???? We have an actual "date night" at least once a month, but that is hardly enough!!! I have GOT to find a way to prioritize this!! On another note, I just read about a study that said people who have "happy marriages" make an effort to experience something new every so often. These new experiences are supposed to recreate the feeling of being "newly in love" and therefore keeps you attracted to each other...interesting!!! I need to book a trip to Carowinds with sam, ha!!!!!

Caroline said...
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Susie M said...

If we can't get out of the house for a date, Jac and I spend time alone talking. While that doesn't sound romantic, that is one of the ways we connect. In fact, while we were "courting", we would drive out to his mom's house at the beach (45 min. away) and talk the whole way about all sorts of things.

cficker said...

I completely agree with this. Nick and I always have date day on Sunday. Weither it be breakfast, lunch or dinner. We set aside money in our budget to eat out on Sundays but also to do a little something extra every month. For example, for New Years we went to Charlotte for the night and spent the night relaxing and enjoying each other. I believe it is the memories you make with eachother that make your marriage special. And diffently have fun with eachother and laugh all the time!

The Spencers said...
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Christina Spencer said...

Oh Sara - so glad you are doing this!! Mike and I are SO bad at date nights - I guess mainly because of the sitter situation... we haven't really set aside money in the budget for that - but we are reorganizing our budget and so need to add this in!! We do make an effort to have "in-house" date nights though - once the kids are down I get my wine and we usually have a dessert and watch a netflix - and talk.... so in a round about way we are having one, just at home not away...

~Christina
http://gracechaoslove.com

Anonymous said...

Being the marriage expert I am of 7 months...we've LOVED our at-home "date nights" on Friday nights with movies & relaxing. My husband has suggested more date nights out, where I am completely content just relaxing without having to get all dolled up after a long week. We do not have children yet, and have talked about for SURE making a date night OUT a priority when we do. But we have also discussed spending more time just talking rather than watching movies once a week to get to know each other on a deeper level. What a blessing to married to such a great man!! ; )

Sue said...

As you know Sara, yes, we do, but not consistently. We definitely go out once a month by ourselves regularly. The other "dates" are more hit or miss with the hubby's crazy schedule. Sometimes they involve Friday night date night on the couch together watching the Good Guys, his favorite, and laughing ridiculously at the characters or a quick 1 hour dinner alone out before having to get home and nurse the baby before bed. Weekly, isn't a thing I see happening for a while. No money to pay a babysitter and no one really wanting to keep that many little ones who can't do for themselves. Grandparents do get a little worn out. Can't say I blame them! :)
But yeah, we do spend time together alone even if it's not always out on the town!

Anonymous said...

Date Night What is That?? J/K great Blog and good way to hold us all accountable to what is important! ;) good job sista! Love yawl! ;)

Ran said...

Rob and I are starting this in a more structured way. With our first baby fast approaching we are now realizing that we need a set date night not just a spontaneous lets go out for a date tonight. Being newly married and traveling so much we have had lots of date nights just the two of us trying new restaurants in new cities. It makes me think of what Caroline says about the experiencing something new together re creating that newly in love feeling. Each time Rob and I travel to a new place I get that wow I am so lucky to have him feeling and we have such good memories of things we have done together.
As we are moving more into the at home life that a baby is going to bring to our lives we are really wanting to make sure we set aside time to have nights for our selves. I think we both need it, as we have both always been people who are very social and need that time to focus on ourselves away form the ins and outs at home. The book Babywise is one book I have been reading about integrating a new baby into the home and I have loved how it promotes you and your husband keeping your relationship strong with date nights and even 10 min of just mommy and daddy time each night. After all when we first started dating we made time for each other everyday not just the days we were getting dolled up to tray a new Atlanta restaurant.
So I really like Cflickers idea of setting aside money in the budget to make sure we are able to do this. In grad school and when I was a teacher I had two families I baby-sat for their date nights. I really saw how setting aside the funds for a sitter and a night out kept these families strong.

Mandee said...

We have a date night once a week! SO necessary, especially with preschoolers. Otherwise where do we find the time to have a real conversations and just do what we enjoy doing together! I'm a HUGE believer in date night! We feel it when we miss it for sure. Great post Sara!

Katharine said...

Sara - I enjoyed your post and hope you all are doing well. This was a point that LJ and I really talked about before having children. I totally agree that making time for yourselves as a couple is vital for a good marriage and being good parents as well. LJ and I meet for lunch once a week. Since having a baby date nights are more difficult but we are fortunate that we work close enough to meet for lunch. I am looking forward to more posts. Checkout our blog - thedragners.blogspot.com

Jonny Hollywood said...

This sounds great, Sara!!! Would love to have a date night! haha!!! But alas, the Jonny D is single so I guess I need to find a lady first! :-)

Jen Barnes said...

We also do a date-night-in every Sunday night. We make every effort to keep it sacred and spend time in prayer together as well. Sunday night is my MOST favorite night of the week. The kids know that is our time and I think it's so healthy for them to see us making each other a priority!