20 date night in ideas

Happy Valentine’s Day! In honor of this day of looooove, I’ve put together a fun list of date night IN ideas!

My husband and I made a goal for 2014 that we were going to be more intentional about dating each other. We used to be really good at this and had “nonnegotiable date night”, but after being pregnant and having babies for 3 straight years…that sorta stopped happening so often. We would go out when we could, and our focus slipped away from dating one another to surviving the everyday with our kids. During that season of our lives that’s just what happened. It wasn’t a bad season at all! But each season brings new things, and we are ready now to enter a season where we focus more on our marriage.

We can’t afford to hire a babysitter every week, but dating each other is so important. A couple of years ago, “date night in” became one of our favorite things. We would put the babies to bed, cook dinner and spend some quality time together. But since our goal for this year was to have 52 UNQUIE date nights, this is where we have to get creative!

I’m always surprised how many people never think about the fact that they can date their spouse at home. Every time I post a picture on social media of our date nights in, I get so many comments about how they had never thought to do that! Let’s fix that, shall we? Just because you can’t afford to go out every week doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy time with your spouse every week!

1) Fancy dinner Put the kids to bed, get all dressed up and cook a fancy dinner together. Enjoy it over candlelight.

2) Have a “slumber party”. Make a pallet on the living room floor with lots of blankets, pillows. Get in your pjs, pop some popcorn and enjoy a classic movie you both love.

3) Recreate a special night from when you were dating. An old movie or a favorite meal you had. Maybe a favorite trip you took somewhere and recreate it at home!

4) Play a favorite board game. Twister is always a winner for date night in!

5) Have a coffee house night. Look up recipes for your favorite coffee creations and make your own! Enjoy a little coffee date!

6) Turn your bedroom into a fancy resort room. Light candles, play some soft music, remove all of the toys and distractions. Turn on some waves and imagine you are on the beach in a fancy hotel.

7) Plan a surprise night for each other. Take turns planning a special night in for the other person. Do all the things they love to do!

8) Make your dream vacation happen. Always dreamed of going to Paris? Bring Paris home! Decorate and eat food from the place you would most love to go.

9) Treat each other to a massage. Get out the oil, candles and music. Turn the lights down and enjoy a relaxing evening together!

10) Time for dessert! Bake something together from scratch and then eat it straight from the pan!

11) Have a picnic! If it’s summer, take a monitor out in the backyard so you can hear the kids in case they wake up. Lay out a blanket under the stars and just talk for hours.

12) Take a walk down memory lane. Watch home videos of each other from when you were kids. Pull out some old photo albums and tell each other childhood stories you don’t know.

13) Laser Tag! Rent a laser tag suit and put the kids in bed and have fun!! See how long it takes before you wake up one of the munchkins!

14) Truth or Dare! No one is too old for a good game of truth or dare!

15) Have a friendly cooking competition. Separately go to the grocery store before your date night and get a bag of groceries for your spouse. Switch bags and race to create a dish for each other!

16) No clothes allowed. Really. That’s it.

17) Climb in bed with your laptop and watch funny YouTube videos. There’s nothing more fun with laughing until you cry with your best friend!

18) Get crafty! Have a DIY project you’ve been wanting to do? Work on it together!

19) Have a “theme night”. Choose a movie and choose food, decor and attire that goes along with it. Maybe you choose to watch Oceans 11, so set up a casino theme and dress up in your best Julia Roberts and George Clooney attire.

20) Make s’mores on a cool night. You can do this inside if it’s too cold or outside if you have a fire pit! Enjoy the mess and the tasty kisses!

Have fun dating your spouse!!! What are some of your favorite date night in activities to add to the list?

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