For those who don't have regularly scheduled date nights, when was the last time you had one?

[Anonymous]

January. We also went alone to parent orientation for school, that was a treat!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Pp, you can banter when you go out. Gasp, crazy I know. Do you ever go out with friends or are you one of "those" couples.

Yes, I know, but why bother? I have two close friends and am very close to my siblings. In daily contact with all of them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Glad to know at least some parents are like us - not bowing down to societal pressure in having a typical date night!

DH thinks paying for a regular babysitter and going out to restaurants is a waste of our precious disposable income. With our tight budget, we prefer investing in quality extra-curriculars rather than paying for fancy dinners.

Also, we enjoy spending time with our pre-school and elementary school-aged kids. They've been to the ballet, to the opera (one of our children was in it) and various concerts.

Finally, almost any conversation topic is allowed at the dinner table, which is why my 9 year old could impress his teacher recently with an essay on current events - Putin, Ebola and pollution-induced asthma.

So our adult-only time is every night, after the kids go to bed. Sometimes we watch a Big bang Theory or Downtown Abbey episode on Netflix.

We're happy like this.

Societal pressure- a bit dramatic. How about continuing to nurture and grow the relationship with your dh so you have more to talk about and look fwd to than just kid plays and extra curriculars

No, I meant professional plays - my child sang in Carmen at Wolf Trap.
We also go to the Kennedy Center or Strathmore to enjoy classical concerts or ballets as a family.
And, we nurture our spousal relationship on normal, regular days.
Why is this so hard to understand? This is what I mean by societal pressure - some people think date nights are the only avenue for growing a couple's relationship now? You have to admit that's laughable

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:January. We also went alone to parent orientation for school, that was a treat!

Sad

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:January. We also went alone to parent orientation for school, that was a treat!

Sad

Nah, It's not sad. We were homebodies before having kids and while we do enjoy good food cooked by someone else, we also love cooking great meals together and talking all night over wine. If "going out" were that important to us, we'd do it more, but we connect very well after ds is asleep.

[Anonymous]

Oh my gosh. I think 2013.

Terrible, I know. Sometimes i wonder if we would even have anything to talk about.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:January. We also went alone to parent orientation for school, that was a treat!

Sad

Nah, It's not sad. We were homebodies before having kids and while we do enjoy good food cooked by someone else, we also love cooking great meals together and talking all night over wine. If "going out" were that important to us, we'd do it more, but we connect very well after ds is asleep.

New poster - My DH and I rarely do planned "date nights". We are much happier just staying home, renting a movie, and cuddling on the couch. Or sitting on our back porch with a bottle of wine. We have been married 29 years and have five children and two grandchildren. We have one teen still at home.

Tell me again about how couples like us are "sad". But only if you have 30+ years of marital success to back it up.

[Anonymous]

13 years

[Anonymous]

July.

[Anonymous]

We average 2-3 month. Last weekend was the most recent. We don't have a set schedule but usually at least twice a month we have a party or a play or adult dinner with friends. If we haven't had an excuse to get a babysitter for a specific reason, we'll plan a dinner out just the two of us.

We very much enjoy our children's company and have plenty of family time with them and normal adult time at home after they are in bed, but we like going to new restaurants and to the theater and we have friends that we enjoy seeing without the children around sometimes.

All of our children go to bed early, too. The babysitter usually arrives just in time to put our older two to bed. The baby is already asleep. We're not missing much time with them, in other words.

[Anonymous]

We don't have a schedule, but go out together about 3xs a month. We do an overnight alone about once a month. When that happens we normally just go to pound town.

[Anonymous]

LOL!! Did somebody just say banter? My mom must have stumbled onto this site.

[Anonymous]

April.

[Anonymous]

Probably once a month or so. But now that the kids are big enough to leave alone in the house for short periods of time, what I enjoy most is the 1/2 hour or so my wife & I walk the dog together about 3-4 nights per week.

[Anonymous]

Our kid visited my parents in August, and we went out once or twice while she was on her visit. That would have been very early August.

Not sure when we'll get another one, maybe the end of October when my parents are visiting us, but it's not likely since they'll only be in town 2 nights.