Why I’d Die Without Date Night

  1. You are so funny. Will you be my best friend? Please? 
    Just kidding (kind of). We don’t get date nights on weekends because we’re the non-custodial house but we make sure we have plenty of time together during the week so the weekend is kid-focused. 

    • Anonymous says:

      When I first married, we had my stepdaughters every Thursday-Sunday, so all of our dates were on week nights. I actually prefer them in some ways- We can always get a table at a restaurant without waiting!

  2. This sounds remarkably like our date nights! I love having someone else put the kids to bed so we can sneak in and tiptoe past their room so we can – catch up on the shows on our DVR that we haven’t had a chance to watch. Oh, the joys of parenthood!

  3. Comfy Mom says:

    We go walk around Wal Mart after supper, unless we’re dressed fancy, in which case we walk around Target instead

  4. Anonymous says:

    JUST this past Saturday night, we had gone to a wedding/reception that moved along much more quickly than I had anticipated. I was tired, wearing crippling shoes and yet still threw myself around because my husband insisted we not go anywhere else but home. The reason? It was before the kids were in bed.

    Such a true post. I need to go check out the 24 hour gym near me and see what’s up.

    • Anonymous says:

      Oh, it’s very entertaining. The best part was when the interior light of the car wouldn’t turn off, and I realized that anyone in the gym could see us sitting there, watching them like freaks. ;D

  5. Melody says:

    Our date nights happen about four times a year. We sneak out and get a hotel room… and nap and watch tv! All alone! Then, we will go eat late and go back and go to sleep again! Nothing major but it is nice not to hear the little voices. We usually end up talking about what the kids are doing. :))

  6. Leah says:

    Love your Cinderella story.  I would love to go to his house and sing with you and play back up air guitar to bad I am in California.  I love the hair bands of the 80’s. I saw Bret Michaels in concert a few years ago at a fair and it was fantastic!

    • Anonymous says:

      Let me know if you come to Nashville and maybe we can get an air band together and storm his front lawn!

  7. Emily B says:

    Ha!  We go walk around Target, too.  They are open until TEN!  If we are really feeling wild, we get a bag of popcorn and a refillable drink from the snack bar. 

    • Anonymous says:

      Ha! Target was my “mental health hour” when Bruiser was an infant- He had reflux and cried all the time. My husband would watch him for an hour and I would go to Target and just walk around by myself like a zombie. It was like therapy!  😀

  8. Tara J. :) says:

    This is hilarious! My sisters & I tease our parents when they stay out past 9:30pm, telling them that they are “Living on the Edge!” 

  9. Michelle says:

    We walk around Walmart or Target too. Sometimes even the mall. That’s love!

  10. Kimberly says:

    LOVE!!!!!  I am soooo desperate for a date night.  Ours are too few and far between!

  11. Megan says:

    You guys are awesome!! 
    I cherish our date night. We get out about once a month. I could definitely go for once a week though. 
    We recently had our first weekend away in almost 3 years. And truth be told, I did not miss my son one bit. GASP! Now before you determine me the worst mother ever. We were only gone for 2 nights and 3 days and my son was with his Grandmothers. 
    We had only been back for a week and I was already talking about our next getaway. Now that I am a parent, couple time is so precious. I can`t imagine not getting our time. I think that it is vital as a couple and as parents. I know I definitely appreciate my son so much more when I can get away from him for a bit (I am a SAHM and he has not started preschool). 

    • Anonymous says:

      There was a time when we limited date nights to once a month too, and once every other week- It has all depended on our kids’ ages and on our finances. And we used to take annual honeymoon trips- Those ended when Bruiser was born, but this year we’re going again for our tenth anniversary- I’m so excited!

  12. Cathyburke64 says:

    My hubby and I both work from home so our date nights sometimes are during the day.  We will have coffee and then go back to bed on Mondays once the kids are on school.  And sometimes we manage a restaurant lunch before pick up.  On the special occasions we do go out at night (now that we have an awesome teenage boy babysitter who lives up the street) if we get back early we make out in the car for a while before going inside!

    • Anonymous says:

      Ha ha! I hope your babysitter can’t see you guys from the window.  LOL. We do daytime dates too, occasionally. We’ll go on a hike and then out to eat, usually.

  13. Knewman4 says:

    Sometimes we go to Giant Eagle, the grocery chain here in Pittsburgh, but the REALLY NICE ONE MIND YOU on Centre avenue, and buy stuff.  Sometimes we’re too tired to have a really deep talk over dinner, so we get soup for dinner and then go to a movie.  Sometimes we fantasize about sneaking back into the house while the sitter still puts the kids to bed.  But we always, always, always splurge on babysitting, we always have, and, until our youngest is in junior high (or maybe older) we always, always will.  Our marriage depends on it!

  14. Melissa says:

    OMG We love date nights! 😀 We love date nights so much, our first one after kids was when our son was just two weeks old – my husband arranged for another couple who had a 5 month old baby (so they knew what they were doing LOL) to come over and stay with our baby while he took me for a nice dinner to celebrate becoming parents. And it was a double celebration for me because I discovered I could get my favorite coat zipped up again! 🙂

    You know what one of my favorite things to do with my husband is? Drive. Just drive. We’ve had some of our best conversations on long drives just the two of us. One Sunday last summer, we had to make an impromptu 8-hour round-trip drive, and we were actually excited! Kiddo went to Grandma and Grandpa’s and off we went. It was great. 

  15. Anonymous says:

    You are me 10 years ago.  The rule for date night was that the sitter did the bedtime thing.  I don’t know how many trips to Home Depot we made so the sitter could take care of bedtime.  And my children LOVED the sitter.  It was the highlight of their week.  We had the privilege of attending her wedding last fall!

  16. Kara in ILL says:

    I always roll my eyes at those smug parents that don’t use babysitters and wear it as a badge of honor. Not only do we need a break from out kids, but our kids need a break from us. We have similar date nights.  We finally were able to go to this restuarant that ALWAYS has an hour + wait without kids.  We sat at the bar, had beers, and an appetizer.  By the time they called our name we were so full from bar food and beer that we couldn’t eat a full meal. So we ordered a dessert and left. I guess I’ll have to wait until next month to understand just how good the food is.

    • Anonymous says:

      Ha. I agree the kids need a break from their parents- My kids LOVE their babysitters and always cheer when they find out who’s coming over.

      • Melissa says:

        When I was a teenager there was one family I babysat for where the kids would actually tell their parents “You need to go on a date, we want the babysitter to come over!” LOL Talk about flattered!

  17. Sleeping Mom says:

    I feel you! We’re very lucky in that we have a ton of sitters who can hang out at our place so that we can go out. We’ve yet to still go out and have a whole night to ourselves though, where we actually get to sleep away from the kiddo and wake up past 6:30am. One day, one day…

  18. Mary A says:

    We usually waste babysitters on “must attend” events like office Christmas party.  But now that #3 son is 4 years old, we actually got a sitter (on a weeknight) and went to see The Artist.  Sigh.  It was wonderful.

    What I really want.  . .I mean REALLY REALLY REALLY want . . .is a babysitter who will take my children out of my house for the evening.  Then we can spend the evening in our OWN home.  Watching what WE want to.  And maybe even getting a chance to make out. 

    That’s yet to happen.

    But The Artist was awesome!

    • Anonymous says:

      Haven’t seen The Artist yet, but I can’t wait! We’ve put a priority on Hugo in 3D- a friend told my husband it was the best movie ever made in 3D so now he’s on a mission to catch it before it’s gone. 

  19. Alicia says:

    Your Cinderella story cracks me up.  I love that you did a “drive by” on your date night to kill time.  I just heard one of their songs on the radio and thought of you.  I don’t suppose there is a way to work singing on his lawn into one your style dares, is there?  That way we could all be a witness.  🙂

    • Anonymous says:

      I think this could be its own show here in Nashville… I could drive up to music stars’ houses, sing a tribute song on their lawn, and SEE WHAT HAPPENS.  ;D

  20. You are HILARIOUS. I can totally see doing this with my husband.

    Also. That smug “I never leave my kids because I’m such an amazing mom and ALSO A MARTYR” thing that moms do REALLY pisses me off. I want kids someday, but not if it means ruining my marriage over (and some of the best times in our marriage are our date nights – without them I don’t know how we would ever find time to bond!!). I love seeing you and Dennis balance that and focus on each other even (GASP!) over your kids. If the parents are happy and healthy in their marriage, the kids will be happy and healthy too. There’s a security in having parents who love each other. I should know – I grew up with those kinds of parents.

  21. […] by wearing a fake booty in public and dressing as a Harajuku Girl. Back at home, I went on probably the most romantic and special date of all time, ever. Don’t hate, people. My baby boy turned five. I still don’t know how he got so […]

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