Doug and I have discovered that sometimes the best date place is home. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE to go out. I love going downtown to fancy restaurants, I love going to the new martini bars popping up all over the place, I love to go to the movies or any of the other typical date places. But as we have gotten older , acepted more responisibility and added more children to our house those types of dates aren't as easy or practical as they once were. First of all, we are hardly ever home, so going out doesn't always sound so great. Secondly, we are so blessed to have a life full of friends for this moment in time and if we are going out, we are probably with them. And thirdly, it is very expensive to pay a babysitter to watch 4 children, a lot of the time my babysitting bill is equal to my dinner bill...and that's just wrong. It costs us over $100 to do the dinner, movie, babysitter thing.
Our perfect date place is our kitchen table or our patio. This date does take more work and you do have to clean the dishes yourself but in the end...it is perfect. We have found that we love to cook together and many times what we cook is better than anything we could order off a menu. A bottle of wine, a few steaks, good ice cream and great conversation...what could be better than that?
WARNING: you have to be committed to turning off the tv, the internet, the phone, it's too easy to fall into the dinner, TV, go to bed mode. Light a candle, get out your fancy wine glasses, use real plates, no sippy cups allowed!
If you don't have the $ to put down for a babysitter or dinner...wait until the kids are in bed, make your own special meal, sit at your table and dine together at home. It's so worth it! You might find yourself having dinner together more than once a week! It's a great way to reconnect!
6 comments:
I have to attest to the fact that Doug and Christine do this often...We really need to take some lessons from you both. Thanks for the great reminder that just being together can be the best date ever!
We've done that lots. . .only problem is Tim goes to bed at the same time as the girls. And on the weekends we are so exhausted by the time they are in bed we turn into vegetables.
I agree that these are some of the best date nights. Even before we had kids our favorite dates were on the patio with beer and Arbor Mist. Now that we have kids its harder to do that stuff because by the time they go to bed we both just want to veg on the couch and not talk, so right now if we actually get to go out, we make a big deal out of it and go to a nice restaurant and do the whole shebang - appetizer, entree, wine, dessert and coffee.
By the way - how much do you pay your babysitters? I'm still trying to get a good gauge on that issue. I never know if I'm over- or under-paying mine.
That's a good question! For me it depends on their age. I do like to higher younger sitters because a. they are cheaper b. I think they are more responsible c. no boyfriends. If they are in jr. high $6 Highschool $7 College $8 Plus, if they happen to clean my house...well then I just lose my mind and throw in whatever is in my wallet!
I do $2 per hour per kid if they are awake, and $5 per hour for sleeping time. All my sitters are 18-22 so they drive themselves which is worth lots to me! I do allow boyfriends if I know the guy. I know all my sitters really well~I'm their small group leader!
I thought I'd return the visit :)
Home dates are some of the best, not to have the worry of all the money and I agree we are never home. It's nice to be here. I give the kids their dinner and then put them in the family room with a movie and then we can enjoy our dinner, take a break, get everyone to bed and then watch our movie. Works great.
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