yesallboys

There is an invaluable importance to the term “Date Night.” The vast majority of parents, particularly with many kids, have forgotten what this even means. Going on a date? That’s SOOOOOOOO ten years ago!

While I was pregnant with our 5th total, Orion, my husband and I made it a point to go on a date every Friday night. We’d find a babysitter, usually my mother-in-law, and make a beeline for the door before she could change her mind. I remember sitting in the local comedy club 36 weeks pregnant and laughing so hard I thought I was going to push him out right then and there. However, when he was born those treasure date nights vanished into thin air, replaced by sleepless nights, sore breasts, and nagging children who craved the same amount of attention the baby required simply because he required it.

Date nights were out of the question during those first few months of breastfeeding, but gradually we were able to leave him with my mother in law for an hour or two at a time. We armed her with pumped milk and a bottle that he might or might not take. However, we still only went out once or twice.

Now that Orion is nearly 7 months old, he is much easier to take to my mother in law’s house. He’ll eat a jar of baby food and cereal if he gets hungry, and she is very good with him. She is a modern-day pied piper….minus the whole abduction thing.

Is there a point to this, you ask? Of course. There is a point to everything. When my husband and I began taking some date nights out, we felt so much better and relaxed. Tension melted away as we felt like teenagers again, walking through the mall holding hands or sitting at a restaurant sharing appetizers. I swear on every penny we have that it helped me be a better parent.

So many parents don’t take breaks and feel guilty about even yearning for one. You aren’t a better parent for constantly being around your children, you’re a better parent for recognizing and accepting the fact that you shouldn’t always be. Women need “Girls’ Night Out.” Men need “Guy Time.” Couples, above and beyond all else, need “Us” time to reconnect as adults and as a pair in love. It is your job to nurture your relationship with your husband, boyfriend, or otherwise significant other, if you want it to last with less stress and turmoil and more happiness and, gasp!, love.

Do what it takes to get out with your man and reconnect. Reconnect. RECONNECT.

Trackback URI | Comments RSS