About a month ago I made the statement, “I am so glad I am not in the dating stage of life anymore.” This statement was made because a few friends were talking about how hard the dating scene is and that it seems like Mr. Right will never come along. My cousin Lisa was quick to inform me that I am in the dating stage… I have just been dating the same man for 21 years. After thinking about it for a few minutes I had to agree with her. Dating does not end once the “I do’s” are said.
For a marriage to be successful you have to continue with all the nice things you did while you were dating and falling in love. You have to continue to cultivate the relationship so that it does not become stale, routine, and taken for granted. It is so easy to forget that we still need time to ourselves as a couple while managing life with full time careers and kids. We still need time to just be David and Donna, not David, Donna and the kids.
It’s not something that I like to admit, but there are times when I feel like my husband and I don’t get nearly enough time together. Face it after working all day, then coming home being mommy and doing house work the last thing I want to do is date my spouse. However, we do need to take the time to be more than just providers, care givers, cooks, and housekeepers. We need to have fun and spend quality time together.
I told David we need to do better with having date nights and try to have at least one a month. He melted my heart when he suggested we have a date night once a week. We are going to try to have a date night once a week and see how it works out. I hate to actually put it on the calendar since it seems so “robotic” but all of my priorities are on the calendar, so date night will also be scheduled. With our busy schedules if it’s not on the calendar it does not happen, so our first written on the calender date night is Friday night, now we just need to decide what to do and where to go.
Tags: dating your spouse, parenting, Relationships, Working Moms
I realize that both of you work full time, but (for us) week night dates ARE THE BEST! No wait times at restaurants, there are usually BOGO coupons for meals and its FAR more relaxing and conducive to conversation!
How sweet! I think date nights are a great idea. You should always schedule them, and unless it’s an emergency, don’t let anything else stand in the way! God bless, Karen