Date Night

My Oona Bella's Strawberry Shortcake who is "Queen for the Day"
Canon 300D
Photo inspired by Jen Gray's
beautiful photography


Date Night.
Or Afternoon, or Morning, or even Wee-Hour Dates

It does not matter what time of the day
Or what we do as long as it's fun for us

Once a week, at least
Preferrably dressed fancy-shmancy
If we look good, we feel good.
If we feel good, we do good.
If we do good, we DO good.
Comprende, eh?
=)

Married life was a lot harder than I thought it would be.
Surprise, surprise.
Especially with three kids bouncing around,
In front, beside, behind every two seconds
It's so important for me to be able
To reconnect, bond, hang-out with good ol' hubby on a regular basis
Without the kids tugging at my sleeve, hair, the proverbial apron strings
Oh, it's so easy to be swept away (tugged away?) by the current of married-with-children life
So I would say it's a top three on the priority list to go out on dates
It's the advice I give to my sisters - blood related or not

"Let's just rent a movie and it'll be like date night, only the food's cheap and the bathroom 10 seconds away."
"I'm too tired, honey, let's just sleep in."
"Baby-sitter's too expensive."
"I don't trust baby-sitters."
"We're married anyway, who needs to go out and have to make all the effort."

And the list could go on and on.

We've tried all those excuses.
When you're a novice at this thing, you get antsy-neurotic easily and forget the important stuff
Like romantic dates, bonding with your spouse
Heck, sometimes you forget you have a spouse!
Tsk. Tsk. Tsk.
There will be times when you're actually too tired to the point of feeling sick.
(Especially with the new mommies out there - Hi, Mumzyluv!)
And yes, baby-sitters can be expensive.
Especially in North America.
The rate for at the current $10/hour(!)
Say 9to5 equals 8 hours equals $80 dollars
That's already a month's salary for a sitter back home.
Criminal. Just criminal.
But it's a small investment compared to the actual gains from bonding with the lovey, sweetie.
You don't trust baby sitters...leave the kids with the in-laws.
You don't trust them either?! Hmmm...
You say you're married anyway so why bother?
Oh, come on, that would be the worst, dumbest excuse of them all.
Sorry, baby, it was OUR dumbest excuse. Look how far we've gone!

Now listen up you novice you
This is your captain speaking!
You're being married is the very reason why you ought to take your wifey out on the town
Treat her like the queen, YOUR queen, that she is, show her appreciation for taking care of the home so excellently
(Okay, even if it's not so excellent, heck, she's doing her darnest best!)
And bring on the romantic side of you, guy.
Come now, you still got it in you, don't you?
DON'T YOU?


I remember someone saying:
Before all this came
The kids, the family life, the dog, cat, bird, fish, iguana, gerbil
Everything that goes with carnival ride called marriage
There were only two,
Just you and your beloved
The kids will leave you one day (um, hopefully!)
And there you'll be once again
Just you and your beloved
You'll find yourself face to face with your most significant other
(Assuming you actually make it that far.)
If you did not make the seemingly tiny weekly investment of romantic dates here and there
You'll end up faced with a stranger and where will you be then?
Limbo hell.
And don't tell me you'll start making up for it then.
*Ptooooey, spit, sputter, spew!*
By then, you've wasted so much precious time already.

Mom and Dad go out at least twice a week!
I think more now that us kids are not in the way.
(I think I just heard a sigh of relief from my folks)
They've been happily and not-so-happily married for 40 years.
Now they're like young lovers again.
(Ewww. Must stop. Choking. Gagging. Again.) :p
God bless them.
For being my best examples
Of what to do and don't.
=)

It's done a world of good for our marriage.
Date Night.
Which is why I do it.
We do it.
Doing it is good.
Doing IT is good.
You do good, you feel good.
You feel good, you look good.
You look good...

Well, you know the drill.
Forward and backward, yes?

Good.

Now, you DO it.

Thank you, honey!
By the way, you looked really good tonight, baby.





P.S. For today, Date Night was a movie, (Dick & Jane - 1 star, and I'm being generous!) a visit to my favorite bookstore (100 stars, as always) and a dinner party with the Filipino Community Which turned out to be lots of fun. Thanks for the invite, Marge and Nelo! Nice to see you again, April and Atan! Got to dance the swing after a loooong time. Thanks to Marge's Edmund who's got the moves on the dance floor. What a lucky lady. They must have some awesome date nights, those two! My dance partner's got the moves elsewhere. (Now it's my folks turn to gag! mwahahahaha!!!) The kitchen! He's got the chef/cook moves in the kitchen. Kayo naman, o! ;-)







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peace
love
joy
~iKat
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