I am taking part in Summer Fashion Week this week...and as you all know, I am oh-so-fashion. Okay, so not really. But, it gives my mom a chance to see my smiling face every day and I know she likes that. So, here it goes, my outfit for the day...I am all dressed up for a date night with the husband. If you would like to read about my thoughts on the date night, see my ramblings after the picture. Oh, and it is a tab bit windy over here on the North Sea, so I couldn't get a picture outside without my hair in my face!
Before I had a kid, I thought the concept of a weekly date night made sense. A weekly time alone with your spouse; time to talk and connect outside of baby. After having said baby, I realize how totally and completely unpractical these weekly date nights are! Okay, so maybe if you live by your family and get free baby sitting all the time, they totally work. But, I live on the other side of the world. And, mooching off the few people who qualify in my book as "baby sitters" every single week, just isn't going to fly. Plus, before we had the little one, we didn't even go out to eat once a week (it is butt expensive to go out to eat over here), so why we would do it after the little bundle of joy came along is beyond me.
I would like to take it a step further and argue that there are couples with weekly date nights who have the crappiest of marriages and there are couples who have the bi-yearly date night and they are living in wedded bliss. Its all about what you make it. Isn't a date night a time for you and your spouse to reconnect? Have some quiet time and just talk? My solution, turn off the freaking tv, throw the computers and cell phones out the front door...look at each other and actually talk. I am pretty sure you don't have to leave your house to connect with each other, but you do have to get rid of all the distractions. I am also not saying that date nights are a bad thing, because lets face it, all of us want to go out to eat sometimes, but they just aren't practical for everyone. And for those of us who fall into that category, we shouldn't feel that our marriage is on the fasttrack to the crapper just because of that.
So I ask, how many of you truly have a weekly date night? Oh, and who does your babysitting?
Oh, and Ian and I are headed out for a date night tonight. First one in over a month. Ian's sister is in town for a week and we are taking advantage of the free baby sitting by having a night to ourselves. Thought you would like to know!
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lovely beach outfit.
ReplyDeleteI love your dress. The only reason I wish I were taller is to wear long, pretty flowy dresses like so. You look awesome.
ReplyDeleteDate Night...hubby and I used to be really good a date night, until we had a baby. I think our last date night out (alone) was last summer to see Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince.
Now, we are really good at reading to each other every night or making sure we have 20 minutes or so to just talk (really talk) to one another.
I agree with you, it's totally what you make of the time you have together and all about getting rid of the distractions.
yes! down with distractions!! we go out when we can, but have never felt any pressure to make date nights happen "just because". Often a bottle of wine and some music on the record player is better than any 'going out' anyways!
ReplyDeleteOh and PS. I love your sandals!
:)
This outfit says "summer" to me. So lovely.
ReplyDeleteAs for Date Night, my husband and I do a lot of "at home" dates - wine, movie, couch, easy. We also make time to just talk and reconnect every evening. As much as I'd love to be able to go out on a regular basis, I think our daily "check in" does more for our marriage than, say, a regularly scheduled Date Night would.
I'm so glad you're participating in fashion week again! I loved your spring outfits... you're terribly cute, no matter what you might have to say about it.
ReplyDeleteDate nights? Well, for the year Jordan and I weren't in a long-distance relationship, we made it a point to have a date night every week. That might seem silly - to have a date night when you're dating - but we were both in school, and it was important to get away from things. Now that we're married, we feel less pressure to have date nights... we actually make sure we have a "hang with friends" night, so it isn't always just the two of us! I'm sure that will change in years to come though.
Oh yeah, also, when we did have date nights, we rarely spent money on the dates. Our favorite date night was paging through books at Barnes and Noble. It's fun to get creative - make date nights a $5.00 or less deal!
We don't have any kids, but we DEFINITELY have distractions. Finding time to talk and connect isn't always easy and of course $$ is a factor. Sooooo, our "date nights" are often cooking together at home...if it's gotta be done, we may as well do it together.
ReplyDeleteAlso, your necklace is really, really cool and I'm loving your sandals.
You look great in that lovely long dress - no worries about the wind.
ReplyDeleteAs for date night, my husband and I never really dated when were dating, let alone 7 years into marriage. Mostly we just stay home, talk, eat cheese, open a specially rationed bottle of wine.
As for distractions, we don't have a TV, and it does give us "more" time - not just to spend with each other, but to work on our own projects too. TV sponges up time before you even notice it's gone. I heartily endorse trying a TV-less household. See what happens - maybe nothing, maybe something great.
Haha, 'butt expensive.' You made me smile. I love the classy jacket over that dress... I hope you got plenty of compliments from your husband on your date night, you certainly deserve 'em.
ReplyDeleteThis is a beautiful picture!
ReplyDeleteWe don't do date nights. We have a nearly 5-year-old, a just-3-year-old, and a nearly 1-yr-old. We have always made our evenings together a priority to be quality time, and our marriage has done just fine! We also do not have family close, and can't afford weekly baby-sitters. However, as our oldest approaches 5, and I can tell that bedtimes are going to get later as he gets older. Once that happens, we might have to instate weekly date nights. Until then, here's to being home-bodies!