Date Night Tips & Wicked Brew Tour in Wichita
If you’ve been married or in a committed relationship for any amount of time then you have heard the same piece of advice over and over: don’t miss date night. I do think this is really good advice but I know that sometimes it’s easier said than done. When our kiddos were younger and we didn’t live near family, a date night would easily cost us $100+ once we factored in the babysitter. At a certain point babysitters stopped just taking what you would give and started having strict rates, even requiring extra for more than one kid or pets in the home! So yes, while dates are important, at that cost it just isn’t feasible for every family on a regular basis.
I do think it’s important to have regular date nights, but how regular should make sense for your family. I know couples that go out weekly, monthly, even quarterly. I personally find weekly to be a little hard to make work with our schedules and quarterly to be not often enough. We average a couple times a month for a proper date. By proper date, I mean something just the two of you. Something you wouldn’t bring the kids to or do with a group of friends. The most important part of the date is not necessarily what activity you do, but that you have time to look each other in the eyes and talk.
I know some people with rules about what they can talk about on date nights. Some will say not to talk about work or the kids. When I was running a business I had a similar rule, but the simple fact of the matter is that sometimes the thing you need to get on the same page about the most might just be the kids or work or finances. I know it’s not romantic, but not discussing those topics can quickly lead to a dysfunctional relationship so if you need to, as long as you can also talk about other topics, have at it.
Speaking of “have at it” don’t forget that what happens after a date night is just as important as the actual date, if you get my drift. ;-)
Here are a few quick tips of mine for your next date night:
Dress up - it helps set the tone for the whole night. It marks it as a special occasion. When you both look and feel your best, you’ll find it easier to connect.
Try a day date - don’t be afraid to do something during the day vs as night. Use Facebook to search local events to get some ideas.
Try an at home date - this can be a picnic or even just dessert in bed together after the house is quiet. This was a fun part of Covid times that doesn’t have to go away, especially if you are on a budget.
Discuss options beforehand - what typically happens for our date nights is that I will send my husband a few options. I will usually text them so he can compare them and really weigh out each option. I let him choose from those and it helps us both have a say in what we do.
Be flexible - that being said, sometimes the plan you made in advance just doesn’t match the mood or energy level of the day, so be ready and willing to adjust if need be. You don’t want either one of you to feel forced into an activity you don’t want to do, that won’t be fun for anyone, so it’s better to just bend expectations a little.
Wichita Spotlight: Wicked Brew Tour
A couple weekends ago we had something amazing happen: we had a totally free Saturday! No camps, no meetings, no responsibilities. We decided to dedicate pretty much the whole day to finishing up our Wicked Brew Tour passports. If you’ve never heard of this, it’s something the chamber in Wichita does every summer. You get a passport full of local coffee shops and breweries. Once you get 10 stamps you can turn that in for a free t-shirt. We have failed this challenge miserably in years past but we had a blast getting it done this year. You still have time if you want to try for the coveted shirt!
More details here: https://www.visitwichita.com/restaurants/local-flavor/wicked-brew-tour/
And check out my reel highlighting our fun day date!
More Wichita adventures to come next month,
XO - Olivia
