PLAN IT
PRIORITIZE IT
PROTECT IT

Hopefully you’re here because you read our latest Instagram post on creating a weekly home date and you want to know more about it. So to continue on…

The way we have done this three step process of Plan – Prioritise – Protect, is to try to keep Tuesday evenings free every week. This actually only started around 4 months ago as we trialed the “turn it off and talk it out” idea for a month, because we were wanting to suggest others doing it on LSL but we figured we should probably do it ourselves first! That was in October last year and we have continued it every week since then. Woo! Having it planned and locked in on one night has made a huge difference. We prioritize it by trying our best not to plan other social commitments on Tuesdays and, Mark makes sure he doesn’t work late on this night.  Of course when the occasional non-flexible event arises, we move our night to another for that week.

Once our son goes to bed we make sure the TV is off and our phones are away. We don’t do the same thing every Tuesday and we don’t do anything extravagant (we save the effort and really fun ideas for our monthly dates) but honestly just having the TV off creates such a calm environment for quality conversation. Seeing what is has done for our communication and connection has made us most definitely want to protect this new ritual!

Some of the things we’ve done on these nights are; read a marriage devotional book together and chat about topics that arise, exercised together, watched a webinar on something we wanted to learn about, played Scrabble, enjoyed our favourite bottle of wine, recreated a favourite dessert together, discussed an issue that arose over the week or, just generally cuddled on the couch with a cup of tea and caught up.

None of these things have cost much money, and took very little time to plan out.

Basically the idea is just to TALK so what you do doesn’t really matter as much.

But here are some fun little ideas you could try to get you into the zone!

What you need: Baby/children asleep (or at least a couple of hours in between feeds if they're still little bubs), TV off, phones away, candle lit, lights dimmed, comfy clothes on!

–          Eat dinner in the backyard, or set up a picnic blanket on the lawn with some pillows and just gaze at the stars while cuddling

–          Sit in a different room of the house – maybe a different sitting area, an old comfy couch, or mattress on the floor in the spare room (Change is as good as a holiday!! – We have a beautiful view of the ocean from the upstairs lounge which we really should make more use of but we just always default to the main couch downstairs)

–          Order your favourite dessert from a local restaurant and have an after dinner special treat

–          Play a board/card game together

–          Find a recipe and make a new cocktail or mixed drink you’ve wanted to try

–          Put some music on and cook a quick dessert together

–          Work out together (interpret that however you wish…)

–          Read a book together in bed – take it in turns to read sections aloud

–          Go through old photos of you together and have a good laugh over a glass of wine (old hairstyles always get a big LOL)

If you're struggling for what to talk about, have a look at our weekly #talkitout Instagram posts for some questions that are great discussion starters!!

These times should be fun and memorable. It's a time to hold hands, laugh together, and above all TALK and listen to each other. Time to share your hopes and fears, excitement and fears or struggles and achievements of the day. Try not to let domestic duties, bills or work creep into these few precious hours. Keep it purely for focusing on growing your love!!

We'd love to hear if you try any of these things or if you decide to start a regular home date night! Maybe try it for a month like we did, and see if it sticks!! You won't look back!

– Mark and Lauren

x

 

 

Images sourced from Junebug Weddings
https://junebugweddings.com/wedding-blog/cozy-cabin-couple-portraits-in-hood-river-or/