So, Valentine’s Day is approaching. Having been married for ten years, my feelings about this day of love and affection are mixed.
As a young married couple, Hubby and I relished the time alone to enjoy a delicious meal, exchange our tokens of love, and express our physical affection behind the closed bedroom door.
Money didn’t matter . . . we could live on love . . . blah, blah, blah.
Now Valentine’s Day is creeping in again, and we are facing a new set of challenges. We have young, rambunctious children (a polite way to say wild heathens), and dear Hubby was laid off last week.
All our babysitting options are busy this year with plans of their own, and we are in a financially difficult position that makes even the tiniest extras harder to justify. So what have Hubby and I decided to do?
We are having a late night picnic in our living room.
I’ll lay out the game plan for you today, and tell you next week if it was successfully executed.
Our children are still young enough to have an early bedtime (8:00pm), and if we wear them out during the day they’ll fall asleep even earlier. We plan to make sure they eat their dinner early, and then we can dine in private later.
We have a special, but affordable, meal planned for the evening, and while one of us gets the kids ready for bed, the other will get the picnic preparations underway.
After the children are down for the night, we will finish laying out the food and any other mood enhancers: candles (placed away from anything flammable, and believe me, I’m capable of forgetting and setting the curtains on fire), flowers, music, etc., and enjoy the night with quiet conversation where we are actually able to hear each other speak.
Then we have the rest of the night to ourselves for . . . whatever.
For us, this option makes the most sense fiscally and logistically. And if it works out, we might be able to have even more quiet and romantic evenings without breaking the bank or imposing on family for babysitting favors.
I’ll update everyone on our success next week.
Later.
As a young married couple, Hubby and I relished the time alone to enjoy a delicious meal, exchange our tokens of love, and express our physical affection behind the closed bedroom door.
Money didn’t matter . . . we could live on love . . . blah, blah, blah.
Now Valentine’s Day is creeping in again, and we are facing a new set of challenges. We have young, rambunctious children (a polite way to say wild heathens), and dear Hubby was laid off last week.
All our babysitting options are busy this year with plans of their own, and we are in a financially difficult position that makes even the tiniest extras harder to justify. So what have Hubby and I decided to do?
We are having a late night picnic in our living room.
I’ll lay out the game plan for you today, and tell you next week if it was successfully executed.
Our children are still young enough to have an early bedtime (8:00pm), and if we wear them out during the day they’ll fall asleep even earlier. We plan to make sure they eat their dinner early, and then we can dine in private later.
We have a special, but affordable, meal planned for the evening, and while one of us gets the kids ready for bed, the other will get the picnic preparations underway.
After the children are down for the night, we will finish laying out the food and any other mood enhancers: candles (placed away from anything flammable, and believe me, I’m capable of forgetting and setting the curtains on fire), flowers, music, etc., and enjoy the night with quiet conversation where we are actually able to hear each other speak.
Then we have the rest of the night to ourselves for . . . whatever.
For us, this option makes the most sense fiscally and logistically. And if it works out, we might be able to have even more quiet and romantic evenings without breaking the bank or imposing on family for babysitting favors.
I’ll update everyone on our success next week.
Later.
Sounds like a great plan, Denice! Looking forward to your "romance report"!
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