The form that Date Night takes matters little in the big scheme of things. What matters is that we are building up the very relationship our children will count on every single day of their lives without fail and that we will share with each other long after they are grown and on their own. Something else that keeps a spark in our relationship is that I always fix myself up before he gets home so that I look great when he walks through the door. I learned this from my mother, who was a very wise woman when it came to men. She never met my dad at the end of a long day looking less than impeccable, and he remains her devoted partner and appreciative fan some forty-two years later.
Every small gesture reaps many rewards.
When a favorite song comes on we dance in our kitchen, or remember when we first heard it. This is a cheap date. Good marriages are the ones where the couple knows how to hang out and play together. Several times a week, daily if possible, we set aside fifteen to thirty minutes to check-in with each other. This is not a time to recount the day's events, but rather to share on a deeper level our thoughts, feelings, hopes, frustrations.