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I originally wanted to title this post:
(((GeekDad + GeekMom) –
Geek-Kids)) * (3 hours) * (Saturday Night * 52)) = Date Night
…but it doesn’t exactly make the guidelines.
My wife and I will soon celebrate our wedding anniversary. It’s an (obvious)
once-a-year date night. However, we have also instituted Saturday
Date Night (nearly 52 times a year), and each Saturday night from
7-10pm, the rules for the kids are simple:
- You may bother us if you are in need of medical attention or are coming to say “good-night”
- You may bother us if one of your siblings requires medical attention.
We love our
Geek-kids – please don’t get me wrong. We have decided to carve out a few hours each Saturday night for the GeekDad and
GeekMom…..sans children. We guard Saturday nights very closely.
No kids. No interruptions. Not spending a lot of money.
Why? Our kids are important. However, a healthy marriage demonstrated to our kids (we feel) is also important. So, Saturday nights are for us.
The kids know from
7-10pm Saturday nights what they can and cannot watch on TV. We also have the v-chip set just in case. They come say “good-night” and other than that know Saturday night is our time.
What do we do with our Saturday Date Night? Mostly cook and enjoy dinner and a bit of time to talk together in an uninterrupted manner (you should try it sometime). The majority of the time I try to cook dinner and tell the GeekMom to “sit there and look cute.” (which she does very, very, very well…)
We may sometimes get take-out from a local restaurant, watch a movie (at home), or sometimes will ask our oldest child to watch the younger ones while we go out.
The important thing is that GeekMom and GeekDad get just a few hours each week to themselves while helping the Geek-kids to learn to see those three hours as an important part of our family’s life.
