SURVEY SUNDAY-Date Nights

Date Night!!!!
date - n.
7.



a. An engagement to go out socially with another person, often out of romantic interest.


b. One's companion on such an outing.

This is our 2nd edition of SURVEY SUNDAY. Our 1st survey on Family Dining was very well received! Thanks again to everyone who participated.

Today's topic is is on date nights. I made a new year's resolution to have more date nights with the hubs. We use to have so much fun trying new restaurants and frequently visiting our faves. We also went to LOTS of movies and enjoyed checking out local theaters for plays and ballets (don't let Shan know I just told you that). Any who... that was in our former life.

After Sam was born Shannon's parents so graciously would keep him one weekend a month. It was wonderful!!! We always knew we'd have a weekend coming up to do WHATEVER WE WANTED! We didn't find ourselves getting as harried as we do now. We NEVER hired a sitter because we rarely went on any other "dates" during the month. We'd just save our $$ for our "off" weekend. If we needed to scoot out for a bit, my parents lived literally a stones-throw-away and welcomed little Sambo.

When Fulton was born things changed a little. Money was a little tighter and hiring a sitter made us feel like we were stretching our budget too much, so we rarely used one. We still felt fortunate that his parents would keep the boys about 1 night a month or 1 weekend every couple of months. As our date nights dwindled, we REALLY looked forward to our time together... just the two of us, to regroup and rekindle.  In lieu of date "nights" we did lots of date lunches. I would leave the boys for lunch at preschool and we would meet at favorite lunch spots around town. We did the best we could to spend some time together.

As for now, three boys later, it's REALLY sad!!! We are lucky if we have a date out of the house every three to six months (YIKES!!!! Did I just admit that???).  Our belts are much tighter, as we are saving for so many other things. I know that sounds terrible, but sadly, it's true. The boys still get to visit Shan's parents for a weekend here and there, maybe twice a year (if that). If we get in a pinch we can ask my parents to help, if necessary. But truth be known...out last "date" was to a Christmas party (which in my opinion doesn't really count because it's an obligation. I think of a date as time with just the two of us doing what we planned for ourselves.) If you go back to the last time we planned something for ourselves... I'd have to go back to August 14, 2010... Shan's birthday.

And I'd like to slap whoever decided that $12/hour was a reasonable rate for a babysitter of three children who are asleep the majority of the time. It costs us a fortune just to go to dinner!!! Our last "date" when we went to the Christmas party cost us SIXTY SMACKERS and that doesn't include the appetizers I prepared and the BYOB! We simply cannot justify spending that kind of money. If we had gone to dinner it would have been double that. Now, we find ourselves doing LOTS of date nights in with take-out sushi and netflix! While I do enjoy that time with Shan, it sure would be nice to get out every now and then... maybe even every other month... ya know???

So, I want to know how in the world you people handle your date nights!!!

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