As Brian and I sat in our home office yesterday afternoon with our oldest whining about something (probably about the TV) and our little one running around like a screaming banshee, my poor husband attempted to tell me the same sentence a few times—only to lose his concentration (or mine) in the throes of chaos. He finally blurted out, “We need a date night!”
And he was sooooo right.
(See, I am the perfect wife!)
I couldn’t even remember the last time we had an uninterrupted conversation about something other than potty training or Thomas the Train. Ironically, I scheduled a babysitter for last night and had completely forgotten about it. Brian’s words reminded me, and we thankfully saved ourselves the embarrassment of the babysitter catching me in my pajamas (still) at 6:30 p.m.
So, Brian and I threw our wonderful sitter into our den of toddlers and gleefully ran away for a few hours. We actually made eye contact. We held hands for the first time in a while. We talked about our business (Katy in a Corner), Brian’s job, finances and our future plans. We talked about little things like organizing the house and big things like how Brian wants to buy a plane. Yeah, as in an actual jet. Sure, go ahead and put that at the top of my list of things this family needs right now. Right next to 4,000 gallons of 1% milk and a lifetime supply of JJ-sized diapers.
A jet. Seriously?
Looks like this blog thing better really take off first.
Get it? Take off.
Nevermind.
We decided that before we purchase a jet, we should probably get our house organized. Well, one of us decided that while the other rolled his eyes. And as we strolled through Target and T.J. Maxx hunting for the perfect baskets, it occurred to Brian (as if he already didn’t know) that I’m a bit of a one-track-mind kind of gal.
I wanted baskets for the house. So I bought seven of them. Seven different kinds of baskets.
Brian smirked as he stumbled to his truck with my carefully-chosen baskets.
“You know what I love about you?”
“What?” I cut my eyes at him to show my skepticism.
“I love that when you want to do something, you get crazy about it.”
“You love that I’m crazy?”
“I didn’t say that.”
“But that’s what you meant!”
“I didn’t mean…it’s not that you’re…yeah. I love that you’re crazy.”
“Well, that’s a good thing. ‘Cause that probably won’t change any time soon.”
It’s hard for me to believe that after nearly 15 years together, Brian still loves my brand of crazy. That he still wants to date me. And I still want to date him.
Fifteen years. And I still remember our first date like it was yesterday. We took Brian’s pickup truck to a Chinese restaurant in our hometown of Conyers, Georgia. In fact, Brian ate the same thing last night that he ate on our first date: Mongolian chicken and fried rice. Not surprisingly, we also went shopping on our first date. We went to Winn Dixie for lip gloss and approximately seven different kinds of hair clips.
I love how some things never change.
(Except, thankfully, the size of my 17-year-old cheeks.)
God willing, Brian and I will continue to date each other. Because we need it. More than we need a jet. Or baskets. Or hair clips (that look wasn’t really working for me anyhow). Or fried rice.
But who really NEEDS fried rice anyway?
If you’re married, do you still date your spouse?
I think it’s great that you revived date night! My husband and I also carved out some time for eachother this week (totally unplanned). He is self employed doing remodeling/home improvements, etc so there are days now and then when work is slow and he is able to hang around sometimes for a few days in a row, and this week he had 2 days at home so he decided to cut wood. Tuesday we went into town and had lunch together as we had both been slaving away all morning (I cleaned out the chicken house..yuck!!). He later informed me that was my “date night”. Wednesday I helped him load up firewood then unload, then load again (well you get the picture)..plus we had lunch together again (at home). Though loading firewood is not typically my idea of fun, I really did enjoy the time we had to spend together and we did get to talk about whatever we wanted to talk about WITHOUT interruption!
I’ve got to hand it to you, Kimberly, you’re a trooper. Brian can’t really get away with calling wood chopping a date. Then again, I’m not sure either of us have ever chopped wood in our entire lives. (Silly, city folk.) I would love to have chickens, but you just reminded me of something. Poo. Something else that poops. And doesn’t clean up after itself. You’re superwoman.
This is just so heartwarming. You are such a cute couple…..and those cheeks?? ADORABLE! Just ready for a good pinching from a Grani like me. I pray that you will have the next 15 years together, and that the rocks in the road will be nothing more than a little gravel. God bless you both! Dona
Thanks so much, Grani Dona. 😉 I love the gravel analogy! And, I have to say, I had a whole lot of cheek to squeeze back in the day. Perhaps a little too much fried rice. Ha!
Ugh, I wish we had the time or money to be dating still. My husband’s birthday is next week and after thinking it over for a long time, he decided that what he really wanted as his gift is a date night with me. I’m incredibly flattered (and a little surprised?) that I beat out the leafblower or the sawhorses, but he is adamant that that’s what he wants. So that’s what we’re going to do. Finally go on a date for only the second time since our daughter was born 9 months ago. We didn’t even go out just the two of us for our anniversary. (That’s his fault actually – he thought it would be a nice family celebration so we brought the baby with us. HA!)
Anyway, we can’t afford to go OUT on a regular basis, but we do live right across the street from a park, so we’ve started going for evening walks a few nights a week. We get to talk and reconnect and the munchkin loves riding in the stroller. Plus the fresh air and exercise is good for all of us. So I guess if that counts as a date, then yeah, we still date 🙂 It’s amazing how much better we are getting along now that we have those 20-30 minutes of bonding time on a regular basis. Somehow sitting around the house talking just isn’t the same!
Heather, I’m with you. Sometimes it’s not possible to find the time or $ to go on an “official” date. I think your idea of even leaving the house and bonding at the park is wonderful! Y’all enjoy that while your little one is still young enough to sit in a stroller rather than peeing in the bushes or jumping in puddles or eating rocks or punching a pigeon or something that makes it less than relaxing for everyone. Not that I’m saying your little one will do that one day. But just in case. 🙂
I love this. I love that sometimes, I can read a blog post like this, and just nod my head and smile knowing that things will all be ok. Even just reading about a couple that I don’t know. We are heading in the direction of doing this (15 month old and all) and it feels great to know that even with children, it is definitely possible to give that important time to your spouse. This was such a feel good read. Thanks!
Your comments always make my day, Karen! Thanks so much. 🙂