Tuesday Night Dates

So a few months ago, Ryan and I decided we needed to mix it up with our evening activities and try to do a date night once a week. Once the kids are in bed, we are typically so tired that we just cuddle on the couch and watch our favorite shows together during the week, which we really enjoy, but we decided at least once a week, we should do a little bit more. We also don’t have an excess of money hanging around to go out, nor do we have anyone to watch our kids. So, our Tuesday night at-home dates were born!

The initial idea was to learn a new skill together once a week, but it has kind of become anything new and fun that we haven’t done before. Oh, and almost always these dates take no ahead of time preparation and last less than an hour. Coming up with ideas has actually been easy, as we both will think of things through the week (although we usually can only remember one by the time Tuesday comes around). We try to switch it up with things one or the other may be more interested in, and we both try to be open to anything.

So far, here are some of things we’ve done:

Bake bread from scratch (that was harder to do because it takes awhile, so I started it by myself earlier in the day)

Learn origami (we just pulled up a how-to video online):

M&Ms contest (We bought a bag of pb M&Ms, separated them so we each had half, then we each pushed two together to see which one was strongest. The one that cracked first lost and was eaten. In the end, we each brought our ‘strongest’ M&M to the race to see who would win. It was Tricia!)

Do yoga (our first time, and we just found some YouTube videos online to try):

Ryan’s favorite pose:

Tricia’s favorite pose:

We have done some movie nights, but we tried to make it a little more special by getting a Redbox, wearing our pjs, and having special popcorn or something.

We learned some new card shuffling/tricks, and tried throwing as many cards as we could into a hat (I won once, Ryan won once):

Last week we made a playlist together of songs that both of us like and agree on, and it included all the songs we consider ‘ours’. That way, we have something we are both happy to listen to when we are driving in the car together

Other ideas we are going to do soon: learn tricks with a soccer ball and make peanut butter from scratch. We have other ideas I just can’t think of them now (of course, it’s Tuesday)!

I have really loved doing this, and I think Ryan has to. I do think it has brought us closer together and gives us something different to look forward to during the week. Tonight we’re going to play League of Legends (my first time) so I can have a little better idea of Ryan’s favorite computer game. Wish me luck!