5 Signs It’s Time To Go on a Date

Way-back-when, my husband and I used to go on a date every Thursday. That was when we viewed this parenting thing as a phase, a blip on our couple-o-meter.

After hibernating for four weeks following the birth of our twins, we resumed weekly dates. We’d take our newborns to restaurants in our neighbourhood in Bangkok – where we lived at the time – and the lovely Thai staff would fawn over our babes, take them into the kitchen, and bring them back every ten minutes to show us they hadn’t dropped them into a vat of Pad Thai. Meanwhile, we’d stare into each other’s eyes, trying to think of non-baby topics to discuss.

(cc) Adapted from Joel Lanman, under a Creative Commons ShareAlike License

Fast forward a year. Vivian and William are now one and we’ve moved back to Canada. Soon date nights become like our disposable income: extinct.

In the four years we’ve been back living in Canada, we’ve managed a few dates, each one ending with the refrain, “We need to do this more often.” And we need to. How do I know? There are a number of neon signs that indicate it’s time to go out with your beloved. Here are five:

1.  You watch Bridget Jones’ Diary and BBC’s Pride and Prejudice for the twenty-somethingthtime.

Whether it’s Mr. Darcy or Mark Darcy, it doesn’t matter. Colin Firth is the thinking woman’s Edward. We don’t need teen vampires with transluscent skin, we need Colin. Or maybe we need a date, even with our own husband.

2.  You’re looking forward to cozying up with your heat bag.

Seriously, if you’re in your thirties like me and you’re addicted to a wheat bag (it warms my feet faster than my husband), it’s time, it really is.

3.  Romance means watching an E-Harmony commercial together

So my husband’s flipping between the basketball game and the comedy channel, when an E-Harmony commercial comes on. For whatever reason, we watch and provide a running commentary.

Commercial: “Are you looking for the love of your life?”

Me:  “Nope. Gave up on that a long time ago.”

Husband: “We don’t need E-Harmony, we need E-Sarcasm.”

4. Your kids suggest getting a babysitter.

My kids love getting a babysitter. A week ago Vivian said, “It’s a great day. I was the class leader, and you put candy in my lunch, and we get a babysitter!” My kids love their babysitter because she plays tag, does crafts, and builds castles for hours on end. It’s one big playtime. I’m pretty sure she never says, “It’s time for independent play,” or “I need to work on the computer now,” my two favourite dismissive phrases. It doesn’t matter that, when my husband and I do hire a sitter, we can enjoy an Italian meal in fewer than ninety minutes.  We’ve perfected marriage-style speed dating.

5.  You write blogs posts in bed. G’nite.