Date nights are the only things that stop me from incinerating Mr. Big’s socks when I find them dumped in odd corners of the living room. They are the only things that stop me from screaming at him to go back wherever he came from when he doesn’t bother to text me when running late from work.
Date nights stop me from throwing my hot water bottle directly at his head when he doesn’t think to bring home chocolates when I’m on my period even though I’ve hinted that he should do this at least one million times. I love date nights because they provide those necessary peak moments in my relationship that keep me from going to extremes when I’m slightly irritated. For example, after a successful date night, I’m much more likely to throw his socks at his head rather than set them ablaze.
Date nights are awesome. But besides keeping me out of jail for arson and violence with random household objects, here are my top five (less criminal) reasons to love date nights :
1.You can enjoy a multiple course dinner in peace, without regular intermissions to appeal to your child not to put her toes on her plate or her spaghetti in her ears.
2. Sometimes it’s nice to feel like just a girlfriend. Not a life partner in “the struggle”, not a busy head of household or an overly cautious mom. Just a carefree girlfriend.
3. The only thing that I love more than food itself, is food that I had nothing to do with the preparation of. I didn’t have to shop for the ingredients or prepare a month-long household menu or slave over a stove. I love food more when it has been lovingly prepared…by a professional chef.
4. Date nights remind me who me is so I don’t lose myself entirely to this all-consuming role of being somebody’s mom. I love being a mom, we all do, but I love being me too. On date nights I can just do me and maintain that balance.
5. You and bae get the chance to consciously love each other in your love languages, because let’s face it, when you’re deep in the unending cycle of parent-teacher meetings and long work assignments, it’s hard to remember to shower your lover with “words of affirmation”.
I will always insist on weekly date nights, whether we choose to try out a new restaurant or watch the football game at the local over servings of mutura. Because in the end, it’s not where you go on date night that matters. What matters is that you intentionally carve time out of every week, to nurture your relationship, as well as yourself.
But that’s just me (and we all know that I’m overly emotional). Do you guys do regular date nights with your partners?
Read more interesting stories on Love and Life from Shiko Nguru’s Blog.