How Do You Date Night? :: Date Ideas When You’re Married With Kids

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Finding time to get a date night in every once in awhile is not always easy. All too often we look up from the hustle and bustle of our life to find it has been months since we’ve had quality time with our significant other. As parents, especially with little ones not yet in school, I think it is important to intentionally schedule in date nights. My husband and I always keep a date on the schedule every week but in all honesty, we usually only get them every couple of weeks. Sometimes it is a dinner date, sometimes lunch between our busy days, sometimes just a walk in the morning without the kids.

For us, it all starts with making time together a priority.

As important as it is, it’s also hard to find the right balance of family time, alone time, and time with your partner. But every time I’m tempted to cut date night off the list because our schedule is packed, I remind myself: when my kids are all grown up and move out, who will be left by my side? He will be. ❤️

The stronger and more united we are together the more secure our kids feel.  I also remind myself that doing this, making Mom & Dad’s relationship a priority, sets a great example for our children. But that doesn’t mean it’s easy.

The frustrations of finding a good sitter, making the plan, waiting in lines, finding the right movie tickets, making reservations if necessary, are real. Honestly I’m tired just taking about it, it all takes energy!  But once I realized the benefits of intentionally setting aside time together, it was easy to make date night a priority. Having a recurring date on the calendar is one way to make it easier to stay consistent (even it it might lack spontaneity). If variety is your spice of life, be open to different times of day. Try grabbing a sitter in the morning so you can do breakfast together, or on Saturday afternoon for a “day date”. 

A date with your spouse doesn’t have to be a big production with all the fancy reservations and fireworks (though there’s nothing wrong with that!). We recently celebrated our 12 year anniversary and all we did was grab some sushi and a bottle of wine, turned on some jazz music, light a candle at our kitchen counter and enjoy our time together. I say “all we did” when in reality it was amazing conversation with the person I fell in love with 12 years ago, reminiscing about the good times and hard times throughout our years together and looking forward to our vision for our family and our lives together. It wasn’t fancy, but it was just what was needed.

A successful marriage requires falling in love many times, always with the same person.

 Date Night Ideas When you're marriedHere are some ideas to keep your next Date Night (or Day) interesting. 

1.Dinner and a movie ( obvious maybe, but why mess with a classic?!?!)

2. Rock climb together at Rock Out Climbing Gym

3. The book store is perfect for you romantic types 😉  Explore Sundog Books in Seaside,  and then wander over and enjoy a glass of wine at The Wine Bar in Watercolor.

4. Stay in with candlelight + take-out (sushi, pizza, jimmy johns, whatever!): eat together after the kids are in bed. 

5. Do something mindful: stay in and do a bible study, or a crossword puzzle, a sudoku, or even play scrabble or one of the kids games for fun. 

6. Work Out together: Set a goal and train for an upcoming race (like the 30a 10k )

7. Do breakfast together after the kids are at school.

8. Escape together for lunch.

9. Seek adventure together : Take scuba lessons, our get out on a stand up paddle board

10. Be In the Moment: Go to the beach and relax WITHOUT kids (game changer) or go to the beach and watch the sunset– no phones (or phone photos) allowed. Just experience it together. 

11. Get Creative: If you or your partner are artsy (or even if you’re not), check out the galleries out at the shops at The Hub or Foster Gallery in Grand Boulevard. They’re both surrounded by food venues, so grab a bite to eat or a drink after you see the art. 

You get the idea! Anything can be a date, you just have to make the time to do it, just the two of you. Laugh together, be silly, flirty. Life is fast moving, and sometimes stressful, and while it’s not always easy with kids and schedules and work and goals, it is important (and rewarding) to take time out to nurture the relationships in our lives we want to last forever, so that they will be there for us even after the kids have grown up. 

Have your own fun date ideas to share? Let us know in the comments or over on our FB page! 

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Sarah Vogel
Sarah is a small business owner who works from home and homeschools her two kids, Andrew who is 11 and Norah Grace who is 10. After living in Katy, Texas for the last 4 years and building a business that she and her husband can work from anywhere, they took a leap of faith in August of 2016 and decided to move to the emerald coast just off 30A. Sarah has a passion for helping people with their fitness and health goals. She is also a licensed hairstylist and spends some of her free time helping brides and their maids look beautiful on their special day here in 30A. She is into anything fitness and loves everything from Barre to Crossfit to running on the beach. She loves to work on self development and is a glass half full kinda women. She wears her heart on her sleeve and her favorite advice is to always choose uncertainty over unhappiness, take a chance and spend everyday with the people you love most. You can connect with her on her Website , Facebook, and Instagram