My husband and I have always had a date night once a week. I lived for it when the kids were young. Still going on dates 27 or more years later!

I don't think you're weird at all! We don't really have a date night but your post has inspired me- I think the idea is great.

We actually wanted to have a "movie date" yesterday but we didn't want to see any of the movies that are out now.

The university near us has a new planetarium and on Friday nights they will be having a sky viewing and an educational film. We both like astronomy; maybe this would be a good idea for a date.

We do have kids, and we do date nights whenever possible. I also work a lot of weekends so I can be home with the kids more during the week so a weekly date night is nearly impossible. A few weeks ago we got a sitter and went to a new restaurant in town. But usually our date nights are on the couch after the kids go down to bed we order sushi, and have a bottle of wine by the fire with a movie. In summer it's in the yard by the fire pit.
Love our date nights!!

Unfortunately, with four young kids involved in a variety of activities, we don't have many nights "off" to have a regular date night. Fortunately though, dh works nearby, so we often meet somewhere for lunch during the day, or he'll come home for lunch while the kids are at school. :) We also try to get away for at least one overnight away from the kids every year. In a few weeks we are flying to San Francisco for spring break to visit dh's family. We are leaving the kids with MIL for a night and going up to Napa to visit some wineries, have a fancy dinner and stay overnight. I can't wait!

Sometimes we'll also have a date night at home after our kids are all in bed (nice dinner, wine and a movie) but with my oldest nearly 13, she's staying up later now so that kind of ruins it! But no, I don't think it's weird to have a date night. It's important to nurture your marriage!

We don't. It was funny a couple of years ago, we went to this very nice French restaurant in town and we twiddled our thumbs quite a bit, not a lot for us to say. We rarely have the time or money to go on a date. Instead, we look forward to Saturday or Sunday mornings just sitting together and actually enjoying our coffee (instead of gulping it down) and we go outside and work in the garden. Those are our dates.

We don't but our son and his wife do and it makes me smile. Most of their friends don't do it though. We do benefit when they have an all day date on a Saturday, because they bring back a steak dinner for us for watching the kids! Last time they went home and took a much needed nap before picking up the kids. lol

Sounds like fun for you all. Usually I'll just go into town and get take-out from a restaurant and we watch a movie and chill.

I've always liked the idea of date nights, but getting away from the kids hasn't always been that easy. But, every Friday is our pizza and DVDs (from Netflix) night. DH picks up the pizza on his way from work . . . but DD is usually here with us.
We have a lot of what we call, our "morning dates out". DH & I head out to breakfast and run errands together. Many times we'll end up having lunch out together, too.
I'm a bit of a cheapie and hate spending the money for movie tickets, so night time dates are usually out to dinner and to an opening at an art gallery.
Lynn

We don't have a date night as our schedules are crazy. We spend as much time together as we can and simply enjoy being home together when our schedules match up.

Saturday night we drove 5 hours round trip to see our dd in her symphonic band and it was such a treat to get away together. I packed a picnic for the car and we had a great time. I guess we can call that a date! lol!

We email quotes and thoughts to each other every day and try to keep connected in small ways like that. Almost 34 years and I still can't wait to see him!

We never did this until recently - maybe the last year. We don't have kids either. DH suggested it - which I thought was quite sweet since he's not exactly the romantic type. He was reminiscing about being a kid and how Saturday nights his father always took his mother out to dinner. His dad was an attorney and worked long hours and his mom stayed home with the kids and did everything with the home and children. So it was a big deal when he took her out to dinner every Saturday - they would get all decked out.

Anyway, I guess he decided he would like to do something nice for me so he said we should make Saturday nights date night and go out - not just sit around and watch a movie on his big HDTV. We are casual though - nothing fancy. We did this regularly until he started working out of state so now our Saturday date nights are more rare. I most love that he came up with the idea - almost better than date night itself.

Jerilynn - good for you - that's alot of dates LOL
Nancybee - I'm glad I was inspiring - ha! That sounds like a great "date". We like the untypical type things.
Polly - good idea having a "date" after the kids go to bed.
4kids - I like the way you think! Fun lunches!!
Tish and Oakley - time together is important - sounds like you find a way for that, but plan a date sometime - even like our corny picnics LOL
Lynn - we love breakfast and lunch dates!
Dee - sounds like you stay connected. I love texts from hubby during my work days too!
Gibby - that is so sweet! (hey - we're casual too!)

Thanks guys for your answers - I enjoyed reading.

tina

We don't have an official date night, but we try to go out once in a while. The problem we encounter is that our kids are young and usually spend the night with their grandparents when we go out. The grandparents love it. I love it (since I am a stay at home mom). DH doesn't love it. He works all week and wants to be with the kids as much as possible on the weekends. We finally came to the understanding that as much as he wants to be with them, that is how much I need a break from them. :)

Thankfully the weather is getting nicer and we really do look at our time working in the yard - as a family - as quality time together. If fills in for "date night" very nicely in my opinion.

We TALK about doing it, but the reality is that we never seem to get on a routine. We have kid-chauffering 4 nights a week, so it's a bit tricky. But my youngest has gymnastics until 8 pm on Fridays, and DH usually tries to leave work early on Fridays (gets home around 5:30 usually), so we decided we'd try for an early dinner on Fridays. We have two other kids but they're older teenagers and they can muddle through without us. However, we did this maybe two weeks and then forgot about it.

Every summer, we talk about a weekly dinner out at the different restaurants in our area that have outdoor seating. Never have quite gotten that program off the ground, either.

Thanks for the reminder. We have 3 kids, including two who usually stay up later than we do, so sometimes the only time we get to really talk is when we're out of the house alone.

Oh, another thing we have been trying to do is to go on a Sunday afternoon walk. We've done it a few times. Sometimes we bring a dog with us, but never a kid. We're really going to try to do this when the weather gets more springlike.

Now that we have an empty nest, we go to the gym 3 nights a week together. And every weekend we have at least one activity/date, and often two--a museum or exhibit, a hike, a visit to an historic town or locale.

We're making up for lost time, because when the kids were young, we rarely went out, just the two of us, on a regular basis.

We've been doing this for years - but switched to dinner at home after a babysitter said our youngest (with developmental disabilities) was 'too much for her'... He's really a very sweet kid, and I think it said more about her than about him -- but we've pretty much stayed home since then. Well, until recently -- He can stay home by himself now.

Our favorite is lobster night! Very easy to do -- just toss two live lobsters into a pot of boiling water for 10 minutes. Add a good white wine, fresh green salad, sour dough bread and a good movie and you're set. Sushi is also good...

I'd like to start going out more -- But it's hard to justify the cost of a nice restaurant and bottle of wine when I enjoy cooking, Hubby doesn't mind cleaning, and Costco's got fresh veal scallopine or mussels.

Sorry tina (pls forgive) but I have been thinking about sweepys last post. Sweeby I hope you found the right answers for your son and all is well.

Oh he's great Terrilynn -- really a sweet young man. Just wore out that particular 'grandmotherly' babysitter... He was sick the next day, and we're still not sure if he was just fussy the night before because he was coming down with something, or if he was sick because of something he ate while the babysitter was 'on duty'. (We found some of the houseplants had been 'picked at' the next day.)