Date Night In

A few years ago, I was feeling quite bummed that my husband and I were unable to find a sitter for the Friday or Saturday of Valentine's Day weekend. I felt especially left out after Amazon.ca had ranked Saskatoon the 4th most romantic city in Canada!

Hoping to live vicariously through some of you, I asked my Saskmom.com followers on Facebook what they were up to for Valentine's Day.  While a few of the responses included a date night out, most planned to stay in for the night and a few went as far as to give details that included scrubbing toilets and taking care of children with diarrhea. {sigh}

In lieu of a night out, my sweet husband and I decided to attempt a great date night in. . . . and I am proud to say we succeeded!

Part of our original plans had included sushi. So instead, my husband made an online order to pick up after work.

He stuck our platter of sushi in the fridge when he got home, and we worked together to get our kids fed, bathed and in bed. We were amazed when they were both out by 7:15! {8 p.m. is usually the very earliest we can make it downstairs from the bedtime routine.}

I took a couple minutes to fluff the hair, put on lipstick and spritz perfume before descending the staircase to our date. My husband was already busy downstairs altering the ambiance from a kid's play zone to an adult retreat space. He had finished picking up the food that had not made it into our children's mouths and was lighting candles. While I put on some music, he began setting things up on the opposite end of the table than we generally eat together. I thought this smallest of moves was brilliant, as it helped to make the meal feel even more different.

I broke out our cute little sushi set that we received from our wedding almost 10 years ago and these lovely dishes also helped to step up the romance factor for me.

Our sushi platter was both beautiful and delicious. It was also not lost on either of us that we would have spent the amount we paid for the 60-piece sushi platter on babysitting alone had we gone out that night.

As we chatted and enjoyed our sushi, we both could not stop smiling! It was a wonderful realization, for both of us I think, that we could closely recreate an enjoyable adult dining experience without leaving home.

While I was at Dollarama earlier in the week picking up a few Valentine's surprises for the kids, I ran across this somewhat cheesy card game called "To Know Me is to Love Me." It is basically a game to see how well you know your significant other. I wasn't sure if my guy would go for it, but he somewhat reluctantly complied and we ended up having fun with it. {Turns out his memory is much better than mine. Didn't see that one coming.}

We both agreed our "date night in" was fun. It was a wonderful way to connect while our 6-year-old and 2-year-old slept. It left us feeling inspired to try it again. We already are planning our next "date night in," and I am looking forward to it very much!

What are some of the successful "date nights in" you have had or would like to try with your partner? 

P.S. After I wrote this, I found a new cookbook entitled Date Night In: More than 120 Recipes to Nourish Your Relationship. I am ordering a copy today! {I told you I was excited about date night in!}