As a newlywed with a tendency to overthink things, I often find myself worrying if I’m doing this whole marriage thing correctly. Are we arguing too much? Are we spending enough time together? Too much time together? Are we keeping things spicy? Fresh?
A lot of this curiosity centers around the seemingly all-important date night. The many marriage preparation books I read in the months leading up to our wedding extolled the virtues—no, the necessity—of having a regular date night to keep the romance alive. But Nick and I already spend so much time together, just the two of us, that sometimes I wonder how you separate Date Night from… just a regular night. And does it matter? Do I need to put on fancy shoes and make a dinner reservation to fulfill my marital date night quota?
During the early days of our relationship, date night almost exclusively consisted of a fancy dinner at home, with the cooking provided by Nick and the Two Buck Chuck provided by me. When we were really short on cash, we’d take a handful of quarters to Bass Pro Shops and spend an hour playing games with laser guns, or take a nice long hike. Lately, our work schedules have made evening plans tricky, so we’ve been having brunch dates instead.
Sometimes, I wonder if we should be branching out more. Should we be taking sexy salsa dancing lessons, or watching the sunset from a kayak on the ocean? Pushing the envelope on date night (or date day, as the case may be) sounds tempting, but sometimes the desire to drink a mimosa and cuddle while reading the newspaper just sounds more appealing.
So today I want to know: do you and your partner have a regular Date Night? How often? Are you in a “dinner and a movie” rut? Does your ideal date culminate in an afternoon nap? give us your best date night ideas!
