3 Levels of Date Night
Date night can be such an exciting time. It can also cause anxiety or stress in long term relationships. Date nights should not stop once one is in a committed relationship. In fact, as a married individual, I propose 3 levels of date night.
A while back I heard a man speak of advice he was given regarding date nights. He passed the information along and I took a shine to it and have incorporated his advice into mine and my husband’s date nights. His advice? Take your spouse on a date every other week; a weekend away every other month; and a week vacation every other year. Why is this important? Relationships, even seasonsed married ones, take time to grow and develop. To be in a marriage relationship, is to be a farmer tending the soil of your hearts. Read along as I give further explanation to the 3 levels of date night.
1. Local Date Night
Local date nights mean just that – they are local. I found a great blog post that gives some creative ideas for date nights in my neck of the woods (Birmingham, AL).
Oftentimes, mine and Jeff’s local date nights simply include a dinner out to a new or an old, favorite restaurant. For this reason, I love the above referenced blog posts that provides a variety of local date night ideas. I am definitely going to be using some of these ideas!
2. Weekend Date Night
The next level of date night is: every other month, spend a weekend away together. You can stay somewhere local or travel a little distance but the point is to get away from your daily distractions and spend time in special lodgings to enjoy one another. I recently found this beautiful weekender set on Amazon that would make packing for getaways so much fun! (As an Amazon Associate, I may earn commission on any viable links. This comes at no extra costs to you.)
A weekend away gives you a chance to not only enjoy one another’s company but to also rest and relax. Got a location or activity that you know your kids will not like? Save it for your weekend date nights. Honestly, on our last weekend getaway, Jeff and I did not do a whole lot of anything. We went to bed early and got some much needed rest. It was a good time together and our destination was only about a 3 and half hour drive from our house.
3. Vacation Date Night
The final level of date night is the Vacation Date Night. Every other year, take a vacation with just your spouse. This may sound scary, especially if you have small children, but you can implement this date night as you see fit. Why is this level important? Because if your marriage is successful, it will be the longest relationship you have and your spouse will be the one person who is most often in your life. While you have your relationship with your children, they will grow up, move away, and start families of their own. You and your spouse can maintain your relationship by getting away together for a vacation. A week is an ideal time period; however, work out what you can. Give yourself some grace. If your children are too small or finances are tight, you can spread out your vacations to a few years apart.
In full disclosure, this last level has been rare for my husband and I; however, this past summer in celebration of our 20th anniversary, we went on a 10 day vacation and it was wonderful. We savored the time we had together. We were reminded of why we picked each other and why we fell in love.
A word of advice…
Now, if while you have read this blog, you have thought, “How is this possible? Surely she doesn’t keep this kind of date night schedule?” OR, “That might work for her but my spouse doesn’t plan anything.” To answer both lines of thought: 1. We do not strictly adhere to the schedule of these levels of date night but we have implemented all three levels. 2. In our relationship, I am more of a planner. I could spend time bemoaning my husband’s lack of planning date nights or I could: communicate to him that date nights are important to me; appreciate that planning and organization are my strong skill sets; and take notice of the other contributions my husband makes to our relationship.
Each relationship is unique but incorporating these 3 levels of date night into ours has proven beneficial. Please let me know if you have tried these various levels.
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