Friday Night = Date Night

Leon and I still date. I love that about us.
On Date Night I get all dressed up. I settle the kids upstairs with a movie or some video games. I make sure they have everything they need because the rules are clear. No interrupting. They almost never do. When they were little I used to put them to bed early.

Date Night reminds us to play...together. It would be much easier for one of us to slip off for a night out with friends. We wouldn't have to worry about what to do with the kids, since one of us would stay home.

It can get very expensive if you go out every week. So we save our evenings out for special occasions.

So like I said, I get all dressed up. I take my hair out of the clip and put on make-up. He likes to cook as much as I do, so we incorporated it into our evenings. Usually we cook a fancy cut of steak and potatoes. Sometimes we'll have dessert.

After we cook, eat, and clean up together, we'll play games. Sometimes we'll play cards or dominoes. We both love games and have several favorites. We are always excited to find a new game to enjoy together.

Once in a great while we'll watch a movie. Only if it's one we've both been waiting for. Some nights we just end up sitting on the couch spending the whole evening talking. We'll talk about the kids, school, work, whatever.

The time has become so important to both of us. There are plenty of weeks where Friday Night Date Night just doesn't work out. Sometimes we just have too much going on. Sometimes we get sick. We always resolve to renew our efforts and make the next week that much more meaningful. It's our way of keeping the "dating phase" of our marriage alive.

Today has been a rough workday for Leon. He'll be getting home really late tonight. I don't know if Date Night will happen. Usually on nights like this, we'll still have a quiet dinner together and spend some time talking.