As we enter 2023, one of my goals is to prioritize date night. My husband and I looked back on our last year and realized we didn’t do a great job of taking time to connect. I think we took one date night out of the house and had a few at home date nights scattered here and there; we want to do a better job of making date nights a priority.
Many factors can keep date night from happening; a babysitter can be hard to come by, busy schedules, hard seasons of life, etc., but I believe you can make the time to connect no matter what your circumstances are. The biggest key is being intentional is making a plan in advance – the old saying, “failing to plan, is a plan to fail” come to mind!
This year, we set a goal to have two date nights a month – one at home date night and one out of the house. We also decided we will be taking turns planning each date so the responsibility doesn’t fall to just one of us! While it may feel tricky coming up with ways to connect in the comfort of home, rethink at home dates … they don’t have to be boring. Hopefully, these ideas can get your wheels spinning to make a date night at home intentional and easy.
1. Classic Dinner and a Movie
You can never go wrong with dinner and a movie. On this style of date night, we typically like to order in so we can focus more time on relaxing and connecting. Some of our favorite places to order takeout from are Moroso’s, Chuy’s, and Milo. This list of local places is great to pick from, too! Make sure you choose a movie before the night begins, otherwise, you may end up scrolling Netflix endlessly and fall asleep before you ever decide on something.
2. Puzzle and Wine Night
I like this one because it can be the date night that keeps on giving! We build ours on a bulletin board so we can put it away when we are putting it together to avoid the kids messing it up. I’m a person that loves to be doing something, so I enjoy having my hands work while we chat and sip wine. If we don’t finish on our date night, we will find ourselves pulling out the puzzle in evenings to come to work on it after the kids go to bed until we finally finish.
3. Backyard Trunk Picnic
Early 2020 marked our 9-year anniversary and we had to be creative to celebrate at home. I knew I wanted to make our day special but we were limited on what we could do since it was the peak of the pandemic. I got the idea to turn our trunk into our own little escape. I decorated the car, got a pizza, and movie snacks. We got a projector to watch a movie from the trunk of our car to create our own drive-in movie and picnic.
4. Ice Cream & Game Night
You can never go wrong with ice cream. Make your way to one of our local ice cream shops, like Heritage Creamery or Splendid Oaks Chocolates and get a pint to go, or make your own sundae bar. Cap off the night by playing a classic board game or round of cards. Our current favorite is the Monopoly Deal card game. Some of our other favorites are Phase 10, Dutch Blitz, and Uno.
5. Travel Inspired Dinner
While I wish we could always be adventuring together, sometimes we have to bring those experiences to our homes. One of our favorite at home date nights is coming up with a menu inspired by a country we dream of visiting. We recently did a full Italian meal from the appetizer to dessert to the wine. We had fun researching different dishes and when it was time to cook, we split up who made each dish between the two of us!
Most importantly, don’t forget to intentionally connect. Put phones away and ask each other questions. Here’s a list I like to keep in my bedside table to pull out and utilize. We’ve asked these same questions several times over the years and I love seeing how our answers change as we grow through different seasons of life together. I truly believe you can always learn something new about your partner no matter how long you’ve been a couple!
1. If you could relive a memory in your life, what would you choose?
2. What is your favorite memory of us dating?
3. If you could write a note to your younger self, what would you say?
4. What’s another career that you think you’d love?
5. What was your favorite date you’ve ever had with me?
6. What do you attribute the biggest successes in your life to? How about your largest failures?
7. In what ways are we the same? different?
8. If you could only eat one meal for the rest of your life, what would it be?
9. How do you want to be remembered after you die?
10. What do you believe you are capable of achieving?
The list goes on! I encourage you to find questions that fit you and your spouse best. If you try any of these ideas, or come up with your own, make a story and tag @wacomoms on Instagram to share your at home date night!