What's the Big Deal About Date Night?

In the beginning, most couples have no trouble to sticking with a weekly date night. It's a great way to go out and do fun stuff together -- as a couple. It's time to get out of the house and break the routine a bit. However, time marches on. Children come into the picture. Budgets get strained. Economies tumble. The weekly ritual of date night takes a backseat to diaper duty, PTA meetings, and extra shifts at work. Then the marriage starts to crumble bit by bit. Is all this really the result of no longer having date night? It could be. Date night is more important than many couples realize on the surface. But why is it so important? 

Date Night Helps You Stay Connected 

We live in an amazingly connected world. We have laptops, mobile phones, tablet devices, instant messages, Facebook status reports, Twitter feeds and countless other methods to stay connected on-the-go. With all that connectivity, the human connection often gets lost in the mix. People ignore the person sitting across the room in order to connect with someone thousands of miles away they haven't seen in fifteen years. Date night, takes all that away and leaves the two of you alone to connect with one another -- no matter what else is going on in your worlds. 

Allows You to Spend Time Together as Lovers 

Date night is about being alone together. More importantly, it's about going out, away from the house (and the responsibilities that live in that house) and spending time together as lovers. It's a change to hold hands, to have adult conversations, and to, dare I say it, FLIRT with one another. It's time to be man and woman rather than MOM and DAD. It's important because it helps you remember why the two of you fell in love in the first place. 

Forces You to Make Time for Each Other 

One of the most important things you need to do, for the sake of your marriage, is make time for each other. In putting your family first, which is an admirable quality in any family, it's very important to remember that your spouse if your family too. He or she needs your time just as much as each and every one of your children. Date night, gives you one night, out of seven, to spend time together. It shouldn't be too much to ask -- no matter how busy your lives become. 

If you really want to maximize the effectiveness of date night, avoid topics of conversation involving school, work, family, and calendars -- unless you're discussing an upcoming romantic getaway that you're both excited about. Date night is your opportunity to rev up the romance engine in your relationship. Don't take it for granted.

 

 

 

 

Libido Lifting Food for Your Next Date Night

Food for Love? Libido Lifting Food for Your Next Date Night 

Want to try something new and different to turn your traditional date night on its ear? Have you considered a date night filled with foods designed to heighten awareness and boost libido? In any relationship, it can lead to a few truly interesting propositions and, perhaps, more than a few delightful dilemmas.  

Oysters 

You don't have to walk around the block too many times before hearing about the widely held believe that oysters have an almost mystical aphrodisiac affect on those who consume them raw. Science has uncovered a wealth of zinc in oysters which actually boosts testosterone making it a potent force, indeed, for the men who consume them. Consuming oysters raw is necessary for the most powerful benefit though any form is sure to help if your libido is truly lacking these days. 

Avocados 

Because of the potency of this particular dish, Spanish priests once forbade parishioners from eating avocados for fear that it would incite lustful thoughts. The large amounts of vitamin B6 and potassium in avocados does make them an excellent food to include in your next libido bringing date night meal -- as they are famous for raising libidos in men and women alike. 

Chilies  

It's the capsaicin in chilies that leaves people who consume this spicy little number feeling more than a little burst of natural endorphin - stimulated libido action. Whether you consume them without anything else to water them down or chopped and included in prepared meals, the results are quite impressive. 

Chocolate 

Though most commonly associated with women and romantic feelings, the truth of the matter is that the phenylethylamine in chocolate triggers the production of serotonin and endorphins which are both known to take you happy places. 

Date night is an important part of any adult relationship. Eating the right foods during your date night can all but ensure you'll get a happy ending for your evening. Use these foods responsibly and make sure you're both sure to be happy with the outcome. The real key, however, is to present these foods in a manner that isn't exactly obvious.  

·      Create a menu ahead of time.

·      Don't provide any of the foods on the list in isolation - make them part of a bigger picture for the evening.

·      Have fun playing around with the theme.

·      Don't be afraid to try new things for similar results. 

Once you add these dishes to your date night repertoire, you're sure to find new challenges for creative date night meals and locations. Above all else, date night should be a time for the two of you to relax, unwind, and let your hair down together.

Disastrous Date Night Mistakes To Avoid

Are You Making These Disastrous Date Night Mistakes? 

Date night can be a highly effective tool for putting a little love back into your relationship. Whether you're going through a bit of a seven-year-itch or on the verge of calling it quits, making the right date night choices can be a huge win for your marriage. Unfortunately, making date night mistakes of monumental proportions, such as those listed below, can spell disaster for your efforts to save your relationship. 

Spending the Entire Night Discussing Family Problems 

Date night is all about getting away from the mundane issues troubling the two of you. It's time to turn your focus on each other. Leave the kids, parents, in-laws, and outlaws at home where they belong. You want this to be a genuine "feel good" opportunity. Don't squander it by bringing bad vibes into the evening. 

Bringing Work Along on Your Date 

Whether it is in thoughts or in deeds, bringing work on your date night date not only kills the mood, but also breeds resentment. In many marriages, constant work is a problem. Your spouse feels slighted because you always seem to put work before family. When you bring work on your date night that resentment becomes a deep and simmering rage. It's just another nail in the coffin of your relationship in many ways and one that can be easily avoided one night a week. 

Cancelling Date Night or Rearranging it at the Last Minute 

Cancelling date nights is a huge no-no. It's the last thing you want to do without a darned good (I mean someone has died or is about to die kind of) reason. Whenever you cancel date night, you're essentially putting whatever reason it was before your marriage. Stuff happens. Sitters quit or cancel and you're left scrambling to find a suitable alternative. It's better to do a little additional scrambling than to deal with the romantic and relationship fallout of a cancellation.  

The same holds true with rearranging plans at the last minute. Once the sitter is lined up and dinner plans are set for the evening, last-minute rearrangements really upset the apple cart doing more harm for the date night cause than good. The bottom line is that if you aren't going to take date night seriously, it's better not to plan to have it at all. 

Falling into a Date Night Rut 

Whatever you do, don't do the same thing week after week. It becomes monotonous and routine. This is your opportunity to add a little fun and excitement to your relationship. Don't risk it by going to dinner and a movie week after week. Switch it up some and see what a difference it makes not only in your excitement about having a date night but also in your partner's response to date night. Make a date night "bucket list" of things you'd like to do on date night together and have fun granting each other's date night wishes. 

Date night can be as exciting or as humdrum as you allow it to be. Make a compact with yourself and one another not to let your date night become a run of the mill experience that's easily taken for granted. Do this and your marriage is sure to be one in which you do not take each other for granted either.