Date nights: How we are making it work

Christian and I were told, over and over, before we got married, that we needed to make sure we took the time to date, especially after we have kids.  The last 6 years have been incredibly busy. During that time, we've bought a house, had two kids, begun the adoption process for our third, I've finished a MA degree in English from UC Irvine, Christian finished a MS degree in Instructional Design and Technology from Cal State, Fullerton, I've taken over a musical theater and choir program for three years and then took a leave of absence, Christian has started a new job, we've started a business. . . I dunno.  It's just been a little crazy around here.  But we both had that, "leave time for dating" idea in the back of our heads.  I have a few friends who get to do "date night" once a week.  We'd love that.  We really would.  But it doesn't happen. We will send one of us out for Frogurt or smoothies or have date nights in, and that's great but living 45 min. from family (on both sides, in opposite directions) and not sure we can pay a babysitter once a week, we are pretty lucky if it happens once a month.  But it usually does since we have a built-in date night through our season tickets to the Sergerstrom Center in Costa Mesa.  Each year, we buy the Broadway Series. . . and definitely sit in the nosebleeds. But we go.  Usually. And when we don't get to go, we either sell or give away the tickets or lose them entirely.  This forces us to go.  To not allow months to go by where we don't do anything, or go out, or let life completely ramrod our relationship. 

Our last show was "Once."  A. maz.ing.  Amazing.  I left me, really, wanting more.  It was artistic, yet, not completely "out there" and it certainly didn't feel like it was trying too hard. But my favorite part about it was going out, with my husband and a few friends, talking about the show and just being able to pretend we weren't buried in some of the craziness.  We didn't talk about training seminars or adoption homestudies or tantrums or bathrooms that needed cleaning.  We were just a couple of music and theater nerds who like to go out to eat and talk and play.  

And it was, seriously, good.