DATE NIGHT

Tonight will be date night for Hugo and I and we hope to go to a movie. In a busy life surrounded by children with all of their energy and business it is so important to set time aside for yourselves as a couple.

A time away from the noise and the chaos. This is not always possible when faced with a strained budget and no built in baby sitters so when our oldest was about 9 what we used to do was to brew a pot of coffee, grab a treat and go out to the car and lock the doors. The children were left with explicit directions to not knock on the car windows unless it was really important. Usually they stayed glued to the tv screen enjoying this infrequent opportunity to watch a movie so near to bed time, so it was rare that we were interrupted in our 30 - 40 minutes alone while we chatted, sipped hot coffee and munched on home made cookies or a delicious brownie. All in precious silence and no i n t e r r u p t i o n s .

We are very blessed to currently have built in sitters and so our options are now more varied, though still dependent on our budget. But what are some things you and your spouse do to spend time alone. Tuck the little ones in bed early and plan an at home movie night with freshly popped popcorn? Go to a drive in? Dine out? How often do you do this? We strive for once a week but more often it is only about once a month hat we actually make it out on an official date. Still it would be lovely for some ideas for us all to share as how to seek this quiet time we all need to keep our marriages young and fresh.