10 Fun At Home Date Ideas When You Can Not Go Out
Here are some at home date ideas when you can't afford to date your husband. In some seasons it's hard to make dating your spouse a priority. Don't miss these ideas on how to date your husband when you can't afford dates.
As mamas of young children, we tend to focus most of our time and energy on our children. Especially for those mamas who stay home with their children, it's hard to change this mindset.
It is for me anyway. All-day every day my attention is on my children. When my husband comes home, I'm done. As my daughter would say, “I don't even have one energy left.”
You've heard you should date your husband, but once those words are said you zone out.
You know it's important. You know your marriage is struggling because your time is consumed with kids, the house, work, laundry.
So how do you make marriage work when you can't afford to hire a babysitter once a month, let alone once a week?
It's easy to turn on the television or hop on Facebook or Pinterest, watch Instagram Stories, and zone out. It's even easier to give up and throw up your hands because it's pointless to plan a date night when you know the babysitter will cancel or a kid will get sick.
But friends, that is not how we feed our marriage.
Let's stop this cycle right now.
Maybe you are like us. We don't have family around who can watch our children for free. If we go out, we have to get a babysitter. That costs money and isn't always an option. Here are some practical at home date ideas for how to plan date nights when you can't afford to date. Affiliate links have been used below.
10 At Home Date Ideas with Your Husband
1. Picnic and a Movie at Home.
Go ahead and fix dinner for the kids. You could already have them in bed when your husband comes home, or while one of you is getting the kids ready for bed the other can be set up the picnic. You could pick out a new release or a movie that brings back memories of when you were dating. We love using Redbox to rent movies. You can't beat the price. Just remember to take it back on time! Netflix is another great option if you already subscribe. For the picnic, keep it simple. You want to be able to enjoy your time together.
2. Take an online cooking class together.
This isn't for everyone, but I think it would be fun. Put the kids in bed early and spend the evening in the Kitchen cooking together. I know I've heard a lot of good things about America's Test Kitchen. There are also 20 Essential Cooking Techniques (w/ Brendan McDermott) or Craftsy Food and Cooking Classes just search for baking, which look amazing.
3. If you didn't want to take a class together, you could still make a meal together.
Making sushi together and then eating your creations. Making his favorite meal together with you. If you got neighbors involved (it would really need to be a next-door neighbor since children are sleeping), you could have a cook-off. A stay at home double date!
4. Phone and/or text him during the day to let him know that you are thinking about him.
I am more of a texter, but if you're not, I'm sure he'd still love to hear your voice. If he immediately answers and asks what's wrong, you might need to make more contact during the day :).
5. Leave notes to brighten his day.
On the screen of his laptop, in his briefcase, on the steering wheel of his car, on his cell phone, in his lunch if he takes one. Place a note, or multiple notes wherever you look most.
*If you're going to write something racy, I would come up with code words together or use emoji's to save everyone from embarrassment. Just sayin'.
6. Go outside.
Sit on your front porch or back porch together. Hold hands. Talk. It's really the simple things that we forget to do. It doesn't have to be big and elaborate.
What would life be like if you could flip a switch and be “in the mood”? Okay, maybe there’s no switch. But you can totally change the way you think about sex!
7. Go for a walk as a family and hold hands.
8. Kiss each other first thing in the morning, before he/you leave for work, when he/you return home, and before you go to sleep at least.
9. Make a list of what you love about him.
If your kids are old enough, ask them what they love about Daddy and write them down.
10. Talk.
I don't suggest talking about budgets or finances during this time though. Save that conversation for later. But one of the reasons for at home date ideas is to communicate and talk about life, your feeling, reconnect, and see how you are really doing.
Are you with me? I would love for you to share your ideas on how to date your husband in the comments. Marriage is something that we have to work on. Every. Single. Day. We can't put our marriage in vacation mode or autopilot and expect it to survive. Be intentional. Date your husband. You'll be glad you took the time.
What are some ways that you can be intentional about dating your husband this week?
More Date Ideas
Our favorite dates are walks. Wild life sanctuaries. National parks. Local trails. Cemetery’s. Farmers Market. Water front. Local shops. Museum’s. Yes babysitters are required, but if the date is cheap we can afford the sitter when necessary. We do employ our adult teen to babysit now more than we could in the past. We used to hold up in a room at home and read magazine articles together and talk about them, that was fun.
Walks are great! So many times we think dates have to include dinner and movie. That’s just not true! The best conversations are going too happen when your intentionally spending quality time together. Conversations don’t happen in movie theaters!
I am an older Mom, so I have to worry about babysitting and such anymore, but I can say that I’m so glad we took the time to date each other when the kids where small. Yes money was always tight, but the most fun we had generally where the free dates. I would encorage you to read The Five Love Languages, I read it every few years just to keep our “tanks full”. Just want those of you who are in the trenches right now to know it’s worth it and babies grow up faster than you think. I am also a military wife, so throw in deployments and moves and you really have to work at keeping your marriage a priority.
Great suggestion, Kimberly! I continually tell myself that although it seems like forever, the days are long but the years are short. Thanks for stopping by!
Thank you for this post! It’s such an excellent reminder…it is so easy to just get in a rhythm and forget the relationship. Great post!
Thank you, Jaime! It is so easy to let our marriages slide to the back burner – not even intentionally.Thanks for stopping by!
My husband and i just recently started dating again. I was a single mom of 3 kids,( now 17, 17, and 10), when we met. We’ve been married 3 years and have spent those years having two more kids (now ages 2.5 and 10mos). It has been CRAZY to say the least. My husband doesn’t have a typical job where he works away from home 40hrs per week. He mostly works from home so it has been a challenge for us to have the opportunity to miss each other 🙁 sometimes he works away from home for a week at a time which also causes tensions since I’m home with the 5 kids and a terrible, exhausted mess by the end of the night. I realize that i have to make time for him. I’m soooo exhausted by the end of each day that i DONT want to. I’ll be honest. I have children on me 24/7 wanting to be held, nagging, fighting, needing help with homework that i feel like “me time”us the only sanity i get. I wouldn’t mind spending time with my husband in the evenings just talking our watching a movie, but just like any other husband, he wants to be physical. I’m still nursing so my libido is at nearly a 0. I’m still waking up at night. I just can’t wait till this phase is over because it had really taken a toll on us! :((
I so understand! It’s hard to make yourself “go there” when you’re exhausted and would rather sleep. Can you talk about that? I know sometimes those conversations are uncomfortable, but if we can’t be real with our spouses, who can we be real with? It’s a tough season with littles. Especially nursing with littles. Maybe you can schedule time to be intimate and make it a point to prepare yourself mentally and rest so you can be present in the moment. Hang in there, mama!
I totally hear you! That was us after my baby (now 18 months old) was born, I had a rough pregnancy, our physical intimacy was ZERO, and we were in serious trouble with our marriage. I was also struggling with Post partum anxiety, which didn’t help. The biggest thing that helped was breakfast dates. It literally saved our marriage. Obviously when my baby was littler, we didn’t always just jump to the physical things. In fact, if we did, i think i would have resented my husband more. We weren’t at that place at the moment. BUT we did open our communication lines. It took sacrifice for me (I am NOT a morning person) but I wasn’t exhausted like i was every night. We’d eat breakfast, read a book, snuggle on the couch, ect. until we got to the point where intimacy could step up a little. We also made a “pact” that we each had to initiate SOMETHING once a week. Whether it be a shower together, massage, watch a movie…whatever. Our marriage was hurting so badly, that we literally needed anything! Maybe this might help? Kids are hard, and exhausting, especially when hubby’s are gone a lot! You just gotta find what works for you best. This is what has worked for us 🙂
My kids.are older now, but when I had many preschoolers, I took a nap in the afternoon when we had a late-night. When the kids went down to sleep, I did, too. After the nap, I drank a cup of coffee, yes, late afternoon. That way, I could stay up late and enjoy time with my husband. You can only function with exhaustion for so long. He NEVER cared that the laundry/ dishes didn’t get done that day. We did lots of stay at home dates.
Those are great pointers, Janice! Thanks for sharing!! A nap and caffeine are sometimes the only things that get me through so I can be present and alert when my husband gets home from work. Thanks for stopping by!
I work from home or go in later than he does. I wake up every morning early with him, before the kids. We may do nothing but read the paper and drink our coffee silently but we have grown to need that quiet time together. When I was sick he didn’t let me get up with him 🙂 but wow did we miss it and were glad to get back on track!
Even just quiet time together is so important. Thank you so much for sharing, Christine!!
You posted some GREAT ideas! We are always looking for new and fun ways to “date” even if it’s after the kids go to bed and we stay home!
My husband isn’t a big fan of dates at home. 🙁 But we do enjoy one another’s company.
Thanks for joining the WWDParty!
The online cooking class is a great idea!
Great post and I can honestly admit that after 23 years of marriage, hubby and I only date once or twice per year – lol!
I love taking time for your spouse! You are so right that we don’t give them our energy. I love the idea in the comments about a date 52 times a year! How cool is that! Thanks for linking at Pintastic PInteresting Party!
Thank you for hosting the link-up! I LOVE all the ideas in the comments.
I almost lost my husband around our twenty-year mark because I wasn’t making spending time with him a priority. Now, I DID always ask his permission if I could stay late at work or go with the kids here or there or whatever, but he was telling me to go ahead because that’s what he thought he SHOULD do to be a good husband. Once that came out in a couple of therapy sessions, it changed everything. We just celebrated our 26th anniversary!
Thank you so much for sharing your story! I needed that reminder today :).
I really enjoyed this post. Many of these things I do, but I like the cooking class idea. That sounds fun. My husband and I are on a ‘date’ this morning. He works the evening shift and I work during the day all week. So weekends are the only time we get to hang, or even eat a meal together. So here we sit in Panera. Not even talking (clearly, since I”m all online and such) but he really doesn’t want to talk anyway – this is still early morning for him!
Thanks for stopping by, Jonna! Sometimes it’s just as important to just be in each other’s presence. That’s a tough schedule to worth through, but it sounds like you guys are making the most of it! Blessings!
I’m always on top of free events or places to go. We’ve done everything from hikes in state parks to nights at the museum of modern art for free.
Those sound like great ideas! Thanks so much for stopping by!!
Just hopped over here from SITS Sharefest- such a great post. It’s too easy to get complacent about being romantic when you’ve largely moved into the ‘companions’ phase. I used to do cute things for my husband when we were dating- stuff like making a list of what I love about him, such a good idea to do now! Thanks for this- who couldn’t use these tips? 🙂
It is easy. Too easy to get complacent at times. Thanks for stopping by!!
We like to have at home cooking challenges, where we make something using a certain ingredient we’ve never used before!
Great list! My husband and I do many of these things. It’s the little things like this that keep a marriage strong. Thank you so much for linking this up at the Shine a Spotlight Saturday Link Party on Angels Homestead this week!
April
I am a remarried mother of 4. One of the hardest things I had to go through was splitting custody. After 14 years of being a 24/7 stay-at-home mother to them, it was really hard initially to get used to not having them around as much. At first I filled the time with school, friends, family, and running. Now that I’m remarried, I have the time to spend with my husband without kids around (I try to look at it positively). Being remarried has afforded me the gift of being with someone who is compatible with me and whose relationship I cherish and am 100% committed to. I don’t want to take this for granted–I get a second chance at love. So…most if not all my time with my guy feels like a date!
These are great ideas. Mr.Day and I practice a lot of these because….well…we hardly ever have extra money!
These are great tips. When our kids were little, my husband and I would sit out on the deck with our coffee on the weekends, before the kids woke up. Enjoy your SITS Day!
These are simple, but important tips. It’s too easy to forget about your relationship with your husband when you have kids. Thanks for sharing!
This is a great post! My husband works odd hours and there are many nights when I am already in bed when he gets home. I work full time too, but with a more regular schedule, so bedtime is important for me. On the nights he is home, we try to watch some TV or a movie together on the couch. And some nights when he’s home we go to bed early too. 😉
I am always looking for new ways to do date nights at home so this is great! We’ve never tried doing an online class together so we might have to try that one! One date night we really love as a couple is watching TED talks and then discussing our own perspectives on the issue that we heard about. We absolutely LOVE learning together and it had made us so much stronger as a couple over the years! My husband and met in college and have similar passions for academics, philosophy, and politics so it works for us. 🙂
I hope your SITS Day is awesome!! Also, I connected with you through G+, FB, Pinterest, and Twitter! I hope you’ll decide to join me in those places too! 🙂
Great post! The online cooking class is something I have never heard of – I will check that out.
Hi Whitney! Happy SITS day ) I love this post. Wonderful ideas, cooking with my husband is always fun but I never thought about having a picnic inside too or even taking a cooking class together ( we would definitely enjoy that). Thanks for sharing and have a great day!
P.S. – have you tried a white chocolate mocha with white coffee yet? SO good if you like your coffee on the sweeter side 🙂