10 Stay At Home Date Nights

 

In celebration of our 20 year wedding anniversary, I’m talking all marriage this week!  Yesterday I shared the 20 things I have learned about marriage in 20 years.  It has been shared a lot and we are so grateful!  We hope it blesses many!

Several years ago we had 3 young children.  There was a time we had a 4 yr, 1 yr, and newborn.  Two were in diapers and life was CRAZY busy with small children!  We wanted to take date nights and once in a while, we would get a sitter, especially for special events like birthdays and anniversaries. However, money was tight and it was hard taking our children to family members because they went to bed early and we would just worry our children wouldn’t be able to sleep somewhere else.  It was hard for some to keep 3 small children.  I decided we would plan a special night (at least a couple of months) where we would put the kids to bed a little earlier (most small children go to bed earlier anyway) and have some special time with just the two of us.  We called in a date night!

Here are 10 Stay at Home Date Nights!

Movie/TV Show Night – make a bowl of popcorn and snuggle on the couch for a great flick or even a marathon of a TV show you are just discovering (Netflix is great for this)

Nice Dinner/Picnic – Who says you can’t eat a light snack at dinner while the kids eat their dinner and after you put them to bed, have a nice candlelight dinner together or picnic on the floor!  You can even cook it together (which is a fun thing to do together)   or just order out!

Board Games/Cards/Puzzle – We have a lot of fun playing games and cards together, I love Sheila’s post, Two-Player Games to Play with Your Husband,  there are some great game ideas on there!  Also working on a puzzle can challenge the mind and an activity where you can have great conversation!

Outside Time – put some special lights up around your deck and have a dinner or dessert outside, swing on a porch swing and stargaze, or even take a night walk down the street.  Great time for special talks or just relaxing!  Can be very romantic and not hurried!

Special Intimate Time – Take a night to do something extra special in the bedroom.  Light candles, wear something special or take a bubble bath together.  Spice it up and have a special night just for romance!

Play Video Games – YES- you heard that right, VIDEO GAMES!  If your man loves video games, have a night where you agree to play with him.  We have a blast with our Wii.  You can have a great bowling match against each other or even play board games on your system.  If you really want to blow his mind, play a few games he loves to play, even if they do involve blowing something up!!   He will fall in love with you all over again 🙂

Vacation or House Planning – Are you dreaming of a special family vacation or a couple getaway?  Get out your brochures or books and look online.  Vacation planning can be fun for both of you!  Pick out places you want to go, hotels you like, and food you want to try!!  Keep all of your planning in a special notebook so you will have it when you’re ready to make it happen!  You can also work on a remodel together.  Redoing the cabinets or the bathroom floor or maybe just planning the changes you will hire someone else to actually do can be fun!

Sports Night – Some women love sports but even if you don’t, this can fun for your man!  Plan a sports theme date night during a time of his favorite game.  Dress in your favorite teams’ gear, make hot dogs and nachos, and watch the game.  If you take the time to enjoy things he loves,  there will be a greater chance he will do things for you.  You know, like sit through a chick flick!

Make Something Together – Find something you both love!  My husband and I both love music and photography.  We are not professional photographers but we love to look at the professional’s work.  We often share great pictures on our Instagram feeds, just looking through them together.  We have even put together scrapbooks (Project Life is so easy, even men will find them simple-just pop pictures in the album).  We also love sharing music with one another, we love to make playlists for our phones.  Sometimes we sit around on YouTube just sharing songs.  We both have a love for music so this is fun for us.  Find a common interest-anything at all and spend a date night working on it together.

Plan a Theme Night –  Plan a night where there is a theme, something where everything you do in the evening goes with the theme.  Everything from the movie you pick, to the game you play or whatever.  A great example would be to eat foreign food and watch a movie that goes along with the culture.  Or maybe it could go along with a season.  Christmas time is great for wrapping presents, making egg nog, and watching a funny Christmas movie!  Get creative!

Hope these inspire you to make some special time for just the two of you!  It is so important in marriage for you to come together and connect on a deeper level.  Date nights can help make that happen!