the northeast ginger

It’s no secret that having kids changes your relationship with your spouse (partner, S.O., soul mate, partner in crime, whatever you guys are to each other) significantly.

Suddenly, there’s another person tossed into your family dynamic, and somehow, you’ve all got to learn to function together harmoniously. It’s tough.

But I really want to drive home this fact: your relationship with your spouse is just as important, if not more important, than your relationship with your children.

Think about it. You spend so much time, energy and money pouring into your kids to ensure they become the best little versions of people they possibly can.

But at the end of the day, if you’re not pouring into your marriage too, you’re missing the point.

Your marriage is the foundation on which your family is built. And what happens to a home with a poor foundation? Come on y’all, you know this one…”the house don’t fall when the bones are good.”

So even though you’re tired, and burnt out, and maybe not feeling the sexiest, plan a date night once a week anyways. I promise you, it’ll do wonders for your relationship.

On a budget? Ya dude, I feel you. So here’s 25 affordable date ideas that don’t totally suck (and yes, we’ve tried them all):

1. Play hide and seek – at night, in your neighborhood
2. Three words: bowling, pizza and beer (make mine non-alcoholic please)
3. Try something new together. We once tried the sport curling, and turns out, I am fantastic at it. He…not so much.
4. Play 20 Questions
5. Make a craft together
6. Have an indoor picnic
7. Play strip poker
8. Have friends over for a game night
9. Try to complete a puzzle in under an hour
10. Have a wine and cheese tasting – this even works for non-alcoholic wine!
11. Fondue
12. Breakfast in bed
13. Order a meal kit (Blue Apron, Plated, Home Chef, etc. You can even buy them in a lot of supermarkets) and learn to cook together.
14. Waffle bar. Taco bar. Sundae bar. Baked potato bar. Legit turn any kind of food into a buffet-style event and you’re golden.
15. Star gazing in your backyard
16. Host a homemade pizza-making contest
17. Host a homemade cake-decorating contest
18. Challenge each other to cook one portion of the meal (i.e. you handle the appetizer, he handles the main, you order dessert on DoorDash)
19. Buy a mix-and-match six pack of local beers (you can even do this with non-alcoholic beer) and sample them all. Compare your thoughts on each.
20. Hit up the arcade and challenge each other to snag the high score
21. Plan a date without telling your S.O. where you’re going, then leave clues.
22. Host a flower arranging night
23. Write poems to each other
24. Reread your marriage vows (if you wrote your own) and discuss how you’ve grown and/or changed since then
25. Try a new cocktail/mocktail recipe