Date night, anyone? Who here is in desperate need of a date night but budget, childcare, time, lack of ideas for making it special is getting in the way? Yep. Me too, so I enlisted some help! Mom of two and date night expert, Camille Whiting with Friday We’re in Love is here to give us ALL her favorite easy date night ideas, and also issue a challenge for us- 20 dates in 2020? Do you accept??
Listen below or head on over to iTunes, Spotify, or Stitcher!
Meet Your New Date Night Guru, Camille!
Camille and her husband Jacob are working parents of two little boys and the couple behind the blog, Friday We’re in Love! Early in their relationship, Camille and Jacob went to premarital counseling at their church. The couple that taught them were everyone’s goal couple- a happily married older couple still madly in love with each other! When asking for advice on a happy and fulfilling marriage, this couple expressed the importance of date night and dating your spouse. They were given a calendar to fill in with a month’s worth of date nights. From that exercise, Camille and Jacob vowed to commit to weekly date nights no matter what and are still going strong 9 years later!
Yeah, BUT…Excuse Time.
I think it’s pretty clear that we all WANT more time with our partner. We want to spend time and experience new things with them but we can easily fall back on excuses as to why it’s not going to work. I asked Camille to address these excuses and give us her advice on overcoming them!
First, these excuses are TOTALLY valid and they are hard! We all experience them and the struggle is totally real!
Mindset matters. Get in a date night is important and a priority mindset and you make it work.
Budget
Reexamine your family budget and see where you can save here and there to allot to a date night fund. Can you not go to Starbucks a couple times to save that for some date nights these next couple months?
The first goal is getting in the routine of having date night. Start small and do some at home date nights or free date ideas found on Friday We’re in Love and get used to having a designated day for dates. As you’re doing that, think about where extra money (bonus checks, credit card rewards, gift cards, selling things around your house, etc.) can go and start saving so you can go out and share some experiences together.
Childcare
This can contribute a lot to the budget side as well, but again, prioritize and commit to a starting point like once a month and work your way up!
Other ideas, swap childcare with friends, family members, go for a younger high schooler and do a date night, Care.com or Bambino.
Once you find someone you love…and hang on tight to them! Treat them well and make them want to stay! Also, once you come home and drive them home or say goodbye, commit to the next date with them so they know the regular schedule expectation as well.
If that’s still really hard and not for you, utilize Camille’s at home date night ideas. Date night subscription boxes, cooking dinner together, and more ideas like that can be found here!
Challenge: 20 Dates in 2020!
Get out your dang calendars, schedule some date nights and childcare and GO HAVE FUN! Both of you need to commit, contribute ideas to the schedule and make it a priority! 20 dates mean two dates a month with two months off. 20 out of 52 weeks? We can totally do that! Challenge accepted! Once you start going on dates, share using the hashtag #20datesin2020
Learn more about the challenge here!
Camille and Jacob’s Favorite Date Nights
BYOB Paint Nights at those paint class places
A sunset paddle boarding session with a fast food picnic
Tickets to see Hamilton (try for a splurge date every year!)
Cooking class/learning new things together
Lantern festivals
Subscription Boxes
Adventure Challenge Book– scratch out date night ideas and forces you to do new things, a lot at home
Outdoor movie night
Recreate a cooking class- use a Hello Fresh box and just follow the recipe together with everything all portioned out
Family Adventure Dates
Once a month, Camille and her husband take the whole family on a date day/night! Their adventure date. 12 times a year, something with the volume turned up to focus on reconnecting as a family. LOVED this idea and got me excited to start thinking of some fun and different places we can take the kids throughout this next year!
CONNECT WITH Camille AND SAY HI!
The Blog: Friday We’re In Love
Follow Friday Were in Love on Instagram
Date Night Ideas and Lists: GOLD!!!
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