Many people that I talk to agree that a regular dating life is important for the health of their relationship. They also often admit that they don’t go on enough dates and many even tell me that they rarely go on dates.
I think part of that is because dating can be hard to coordinate with children.
And it can be expensive.
You have to pay for the babysitter.
You have to pay for the dinner.
You have to pay for the gas.
Despite what the media tells me, I’m still not seeing much of a recovery economically and it seems to me that one of the things to get cut the fastest is a couples dating budget.
But you don’t need a big budget to go on a date.
If you’re kids are older, you may be able to have one of them do the babysitting while you go for a short walk holding hands.
If you can’t let the kids watch themselves without fear that the entire second floor will be gutted before you get back, you can always wait until the kids go to bed to have your date.
You can explain to them how important it is that they give you “mommy and daddy time.”
If your kids are old enough give them strict instructions to not come see you unless something is wrong in a major way.
Then shut off the phones.
Close the laptops.
Put a movie.
Play a card game.
Play a video game. One couple I once talked to played strip video games. That was usually a win/win night for them.
The point is that dating doesn’t have to be expensive and in fact, you don’t have to leave the house.
It can as simple as sitting on the front porch sipping a drink and talking.
If you go that route, try to avoid talking about bills and those types of things. Talk about each other. Work, the future. What do you dream about. Etc.
The important thing is that you spend time together.