Date Night: He says, She says

I told the wife that we should write of our own "date night" practice. She gave her perspective on it here.

Where did the idea start? Probably from the necessity of having a bunch of kids and no family to watch them on a date night. We've been pleased with the practice and the result of it.

I realize that it is not ideal for the family with larger, more mature children in the house but when we get there we will probably modify our practice by sending the kids out to eat :)

What we do is go to the store and buy:

1.) all the greasy junky kind of pre-prep food that kids love and moms hate.
2.) all the expensive stuff that adults love and don't usually buy for a week night meal.

this includes but is not limited to:

for adults:

1.)fresh salmon
2.) shark steaks
3.) fresh shrimp
4.) expensive cheeses
5.) fresh bread (that someone else made:)
6.) more expensive fresh fruits
7.) portobello mushrooms
8.) cheese cake (always)


for the kids:

1.) chicken fingers
2.) pizza rolls
3.) those little plastic bottles of kool-aid (the ones with the foil lids ) that are near the dairy cooler at most grocers
4.) pre-packed cupcakes (can you say twinkie - boys and girls I think you can)
5.) NOTE THIS ONE IS THE MOST CRITICAL PART OF THE EVENING ....at least 2 preferably 3 rented videos. 4-6 hours worth of brainless entertainment

Like I said, the dearth of baby sitters drove us to it but over time the charm of the practice grew for me because of several factors.

1.) On a fixed budget with lots of little mouths to feed I prefer to take the WHOLE family out to a good restaurant to enjoy meals. Call it a father's pride but I love walking into a quiet restaurant with my ladies before me, all quiet and behaved and dressed to the nines. It's great ...me bringing up the rear meeting all the looks and stares with confidence as the people look on with amazment. Besides we practice a modified form of the rejoicing tithe (more on that in a later post) and as such our trips out need to be a familial celebration.

2.) I DON'T LIKE LEAVING MY KIDS..see, I'm crazy about them

3.) but my wife still needs to be pampered.

so

4.) where better to serve HER than in HER kitchen? Where day in and day out she serves us...see this is the ultimate foot washing within marriage exercise.

What makes you the bigger hero?

Taking her somewhere and flipping out the check book OR (I forgot to mention that I do the shopping for all of this) getting the stuff for an amazing feast of delicacies and serving your wife for several hours with your hands in a quiet warm comfortable environment where you can kick off your shoes and snuggle on the couch when you are done with your feasting?

I know what works for me. Besides, we fellowship and talk about real meaty things more surrounded by the little reminders of our daily life that our house holds. For us there is real romance and affection that comes out of talking about and working through the little issues of life while we cook.



SEVERAL BIG NOTES TO THE MEN READING THIS :

The whole plan falls apart when you get YOUR FAVORITE stuff - in my house she likes salmon I HATE salmon. When we do this I ALWAYS make sure we have fresh salmon to bake or grill.

Think outside the box: don't just do one thing. Take the opportunity to try several things. Buy dishes that you both like: even though we have salmon it doesn't mean I have to choke the hated fish down - other small portion entrees that we routinely indulge in are:

a.) jumbo shrinp
b.) bacon wrapped fillets
c.) boneless grilled chicken
d.) smoked turkey

Her contribution to the whole thing should be to make sure the kids are fed and that they are ready for banishment when you get home (at least on weeknights) so that you can get started early.

Finally, we try and keep it limited to good but very low prep food: salads, grilled meats and fish, sliced fresh vegetables and fruits, breads, "boughten" desserts...

We usually are able to eat for about 50 bucks what would cost us around 150-200 at a restaurant AND we don't have a drive home or a sitter to mess with.

File it in your FWIW file.

Date Night: He says, She says

http://pollys-peak.blogspot.com/2005/10/date-night-he-says-she-says.html