Date Your Mate

Making the effort to keep your marriage romantic takes more planning than it used to, when you now have bills, kids and several schedules to consider. But working parents accept the reality that private time has to be scheduled if it’s to occur at all.
It turns out that busy parents have found creative ways to keep their romantic fires burning.

The Basics of Dating: Keep some basic rules about what qualifies as a date and what doesn’t. A date is a commitment to spend time together to relax, recharge and romance. A trip to Home Depot to select new towel rods while the children play at a neighbor’s house is not a date, even though you may be alone in the car on the way there and back.

The Perfect Date: What makes for a perfect date? Naturally, that varies from couple to couple. But here are some tips for getting the most romantic mileage out of your precious time together. First, a date should involve joyful anticipation of being together. Think back to before you were married. Didn’t your Saturday night date actually start on the previous Monday or Tuesday? If you were in charge of planning the date, that’s when you made reservations, purchased tickets, selected a destination and confirmed details. If you were the one being treated to the date, you chose your attire and planned your Saturday schedule around the upcoming date.

Be Original: Try not to do the same things too often. Movie dates can be interspersed with outings to art gallery openings, concerts and plays. The more advance preparation required, the greater the anticipation.

Date Night: Dates are not just for Saturday nights, either. Some couples go on mid-week dates. Dinner out breaks up the long workweek, and can give you a much-needed chance to talk. You may also get into that great restaurant that is booked every weekend.

Take a Longer Date Occasionally: However wonderful your date is, romance sometimes takes a little longer than four or five hours. To nurture relationships, couples need to plan a longer date occasionally. This can be a weekend getaway or just a day or two at home without the children.