Make Time to Date Your Husband

For me, one of the most significant challenges of being a parent is that I often do not feel I get enough one-on-one time with my husband. And I miss that guy.

During our pre-marriage counseling our pastor reminded us of the importance of continuing to date once we were married. It seemed so easy then, but we haven’t been as committed to doing it as we should.

Our evenings are usually filled with chasing our daughter around, keeping her fed, bath time, and reading a million books to her while she dozes off. By then all we can do is collapse on the couch and zone out in a book or DVR’d television show.

I feel like it is so easy to get caught up in the massive responsibility of being a parent and not give our marriages the attention they deserve.

We are fortunate to have my family within an hour’s drive and my parents are always excited to babysit. We also have a few trustworthy and responsible high school girls in town who are usually willing to watch her so we can go have dinner.

So what’s stopping us? Work obligations, involvement in community organizations, sheer exhaustion? And dating with a toddler at home takes planning.

Two weeks ago when had a date that involved watching Zoolander 2 and having a long, leisurely dinner complete with wine. My husband makes me laugh a lot and those dates when we can just really connect without outside distractions are so important in reminding me that he is still the fantastic guy I married. Turns out I really like the guy.

So I resolve to make dating my husband a priority. It doesn’t have to be fancy, but that one-on-one time feeds my soul.

I’d love to know: How do you make date night happen?