Date nights

Something that Greg and I have been working on getting back into are date nights. We try and do a ‘date night’ about once a month, although sometimes we take them every couple of weeks. Before Benedict was born, we would have his parents watch Elise and then go out to a little Mexican restaurant and reconnect. Benedict would come along with us when he was newborn, although now we can leave them both with his parents (albeit for a shorter amount of time).

We budget about $20 for a Date Night. We’re not big movie folks – we’d rather just eat. I think the next date night we’re going to get some good steaks from the store, and splurge on side dishes and have a nice meal at home as opposed to going out. Still send the kids to Greg’s parents, but be able to have good food and reconnect with each other.

Sometimes we’ll have a spur of the moment date night, usually when we’re both realizing we need to rework communicating with each other.

We don’t see Date Night as a “get away from those kids!” time (although it’s nice to not have extra ears around). We both believe that our marriage needs to be fed in order for it to grow; and it’s so easy to lose each other in the demands of raising kids and working and running the home and so on. Date Night forces us to come back to each other and help keep those flames of love a-crackling.

If we nurture our marriage, the effects of that will flow into all things, especially the children. With the help of God, we want to present to them a realistic look into the beauty of the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony.