13 ideas for a date nights at home
Maintaining your relationship with a new baby in the house can be tricky, but it's so important to do. It may not be practical to go out somewhere while baby is little, and it can be costly, so we've put together some ideas to spend some good quality time together at home.
1. Good old movie night. Agree on a movie to watch together in advance, set yourselves up with popcorn and drinks and enjoy a movie in. You can alternate between action and rom-com if you both have different genre preferences.
2. Make a meal together. Once bubs is fed and in bed, make your dinner together. Pick a main and dessert you've been wanting to make for a while and enjoy the cooking experience together and the fab meal afterward - candlelit of course.
3. Play a board game together. Have fun playing a board game together or a game of cards. You could spice it up a bit, winner has to have a massage by the loser perhaps. Get a question wrong and...? We'll leave the rest to your imagination...
4. Spa together. If you're lucky enough to have a spa or a lovely bath, surround the space with candles and enjoy relaxing together and 'chatting'. ;)
5. Conversation Starters. See our conversation starters below or make up your own. Spend the night having a good old chat about something other than nappies, poos and wees.
6. Jigsaw puzzle together. Wasjig jigsaw puzzles are fun to do together and they're quite quirky! Puzzles offer a great opportunity to work towards achieving the same goal.
7. Sing Star. Unleash your inner X-factor contestant by playing a game of sing star - but not too loud, you don't want to wake the baby!
8. Theme night. Pick a theme for the night and dress and cater to that theme...e.g. MEXICAN, have Mexican food for dinner, dress in Mexican costume, download some Mexican style music...
9. Do the Five Languages of Love test together. You can do this online (see website below) and not only get to know each other better, but learn how you can better speak your partner's love language. www.5lovelanguages.com
10. DIY Together. Sounds romantic - no? You could create a 'mood board' about a room you've been planning to work on, or if you're an active relaxer, perhaps painting a room together would be fun, and a great opportunity to talk.
11. Year in Review. Spend the evening discussing the highlights of the year, the lowlights, what you'd do differently next year and set some goals together (e.g. save for a holiday, house extension, new furniture, another baby).
12. Have a slumber party. Pull out the blankets, pillows and mattress and spend the night in the lounge, watch a movie and enjoy the simple things.
13. Plan a holiday together, perhaps even a couple of holidays. The first the most realistic one you can achieve with baby and budget in tow. The second, a dream holiday to look forward to (and save for!) in the next 10 years or so.
