updated 2/4/22
I think we can all agree that this has been a tough couple of years! We are all ready to get our social lives back and go places without feeling anxious about COVID. Before the world shut down, my husband and I had a goal of having a date night weekly (I know! Pretty ambitious huh?). In addition to our parents, we lined up 2 trustworthy sitters to make this happen. And needless to say, those plans fell through.
We did not jump right back into planning dates. I actually shut our household down from everyone, including grandparents until May. We even kept our girls home from daycare until May as well. So, there was no alone time for over 2 months in our household. Yet, with our anniversary approaching in June, I knew we needed to get creative with our dating plans. My love language is quality time and my tank was running a little low. And to be honest, my husband and I needed a mental break. Therefore, we began safely venturing out and expanding our bubble by allowing our parents to give us breaks and spend time with the kids.
These breaks allowed us to begin planning dates again. The two dating methods that have worked for us, during the pandemic, are dating during the day and home dates. Here are a few dating ideas that I have collected:
Day Dates: I know they don’t seem as appealing but, they can still be fun!
During our marriage meetings, we look at the calendar for the month to see when our schedules allow us a few hours to spend quality time together during the day. Then we put this time on the calendar. This step is so important! If you don’t put it on the calendar it doesn’t exist. Our lives are super busy, especially with my husband running his own business. Meetings and kids errands will show up out of nowhere. So, being intentional about finding the time in our days to spend time together is very important.
Dates we’ve tried:
- Breakfast/lunch at a new restaurant
- Watching a movie we can’t watch with the kids home
- Getting ice cream (we had a 40 minute window and we took it)
- Walking the neighborhood together
Stay At Home Dates: These have been my favorites
It is no secret that I am a “homebody.” But, on date nights I generally try to embrace getting out of the house. COVID made that nearly impossible so it was time to get innovative with our home dates. Before the pandemic, not much planning went into our home dates. We’d find a movie and something good to eat (nothing wrong with these simple dates). But now I feel the need to be more intentional when it comes to planning our home dates because that’s pretty much the bulk of our dates. This includes making special playlists, purchasing new games we’ve been wanting to play, and even having an itinerary for how the evening will go.
Date Ideas:
- Order from your favorite restaurant and have a candlelight dinner
- Line up some board games and have a game night
- Set up a spa night for 2
- At home painting kit
- At home candle making kit
Need Help Planning Dates?
I know that sometimes we just don’t feel creative or inspired and so planning dates can seem frustrating. Lucky for you, there is a solution for that! Lawrence and I recently used the services of the Envelope Date to help plan my birthday weekend. Envelope Date is a black-owned date concierge that curates a date based on your wants and needs. I must admit that we have not been able to use our guide just yet, but that is also the beauty of this service. It never expires! It’s pandemic proof! So, as soon as we are able to get out and enjoy the outside world again, we already have a date planned out for us. Need plans for Valentine’s day? Please check them out.
The biggest take away from getting creative with dating my husband is, you have to find a way. Dates don’t always have to be lavish and extravagant but they should be intentional. What other dating ideas do you have? Let me know below:
