# At home date ideas



## Riverside MFT (Oct 5, 2009)

Continued courting (dating) is one of the essential elements to a happy marriage. Think about it. How essential was dating before you and your spouse got married. I would venture to say that most people would not be married had they not dated each other. Dating allows a couple to put life's stresses on hold and simply focus on each other and the relationship. Key items of a date include:

A. It is planned.

B. Kids are not present. Talking about your kids is a great thing to do on a date, but trying to keep your kids calm while in a restaurant for example distracts a couple from interacting with each other.

C. It involves some sort of positive communication.

D. It is together.

After marriage continued courtship can often be a challenge because of children, finances, or other situations. The following is a list of things couples can do at home for little money and without having to try to find a babysitter. Most of these ideas can be done after putting the kids to bed (or early in the morning before they wake up). Keep in mind that a date is planned. Two couch potatoes watching TV together does not constitute a date. 

1. Watch a movie together.

2. Play board games together.

3. Play video or computer games together.

4. Have a dance party.

5. Go for a walk around the outside of your house or backyard.

6. Plan a vacation for just the two of you. You've always wanted to go to Europe, but don't have the finances to do so? That doesn't mean you can't still plan your vacation together.

7. Order take-out, put the kids to bed, set up a romantic setting inside or out, and have a romantic dinner.

7a. Have a romantic breakfast before the kids get up.

8. Plan a home remodel project. Don't have the money? See #6.

9. Make cookies and deliver them to neighbors.

10. Make love. If this is going to be considered a date, there needs to be more creativity and planning than just simply getting in bed together. Make love in a different room of the house, use different positions, use lingerie. Make it different. Make it fun.

11. Have a paper airplane contest.

12. Work in your garden. Or if you don't have money to start your garden -- plan your garden.

13. Read a book together.

14. Write an article together.

15. Compile family history/genealogy.

16. Exercise together. You can exercise without leaving your home such as watching work-out videos, or running outside your house.

17. One person I knew who didn't have any money helped his wife put the kids to bed and then went and sat on their roof, had some otter-pops, and just talked with each other.

18. Watch the sunset/sunrise together.

19. Take an online course together.

20. Finger paint with edible paint (different colored pudding).

21. Blog together.

22. Work on a piece of art (painting, pottery, etc.) together.

23. Play laser tag inside your house.

24. Set up your own miniature golf course inside your house.

25. Organize family photos.

26. Scrapbook together.

27. Go through this list, add some of your own ideas, and scratch off ideas that don't fit you.

28. Recreate your first date (this might take some creativity).

29. Write down the story of how you met and read it to each other.

30. Write a letter to a family member, friend, someone serving in the military, etc.

31. Cook a fun meal together.

32. Pick up a fun desert at a place you've never eaten before and share it together (The Cheesecake Factory has 30+ different types of Cheescakes)

33. Read your favorite children's books to each other.

34. Have a bad poetry night (pick a topic and spend 2 mintues writing a poem--as silly, sappy or bad as you can make it).

Other date ideas from home?

Originally posted at Improve My Marriage: At-Home Date Ideas


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## heartsbeating (May 2, 2011)

I always enjoy reading these types of ideas. I'll add: 

- share a bath together with candles and music

- have an indoor evening picnic on the living room floor

- fill out the book "All About Us" 

- create a romantic (or sexual) scavenger hunt around your house or yard

- balloons with notes inside. This could be turned into a "dare" type of game. Pick a balloon, pop it and follow the note's instructions. Another take on this is to have romantic notes inside the balloons. Your SO comes home to a romantic dinner and room filled with balloons.


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## joe kidd (Feb 8, 2011)

We will break out Mortal Kombat on the PS3 and battle it out. LOL Trying to get her to go with winner gets everything they want in bed that night.


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## tacoma (May 1, 2011)

We play quarters.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quarters_(drinking_game)

We change the rules though.

Instead of having to drink when a rule is inacted we trade small sexual/intimate favors.

It`s usually a very good night.


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## MrK (Sep 2, 2010)

Or you can do what we do. My wife will lie down on the couch and watch reality TV until midnight. I'll clean the house, or read, and ususally go to bed early. When she's finally ready to go to bed...she'll come upstairs...lie down with her back to me...here's the good part...she'll GO TO SLEEP!

I hate my ****ing marriage.


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## pidge70 (Jan 17, 2011)

joe kidd said:


> We will break out Mortal Kombat on the PS3 and battle it out. LOL Trying to get her to go with
> winner gets everything they want in bed that night.



I swear he cheats.....I ALWAYS lose!
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## SunnyT (Jun 22, 2011)

Midnight picnic in the backyard
Stargazing
Firepit.....
Naked Twister
Skinnydipping


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## Riverside MFT (Oct 5, 2009)

SunnyT said:


> Midnight picnic in the backyard
> Stargazing
> Firepit.....
> Naked Twister
> Skinnydipping


Oh, I like these!


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## swedish (Mar 6, 2008)

Our kids are older now (15 & up) so we can have dates outside of the home, but we also have some 'at home' dates when the kids are not home:


Fondue night -- we make a nice fondue together & watch movies
Night Club -- we dress up, play Sinatra and make h'ors deuvres
Massage/hot tub....we usually trade off on who's giving or receiving the massage but always a nice night for both of us!

There are many more...sex board games, setting up the spare room 'special' for us ....so many options


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## heartsbeating (May 2, 2011)

oh I love the idea of Fondue night!


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## DanF (Sep 27, 2010)

Here's some of the stuff we do
Hot tub and candle light, a few drinks, music.
Get dressed up and dance in the living room to our favorite old songs.
Wake up early, make coffee and drive to the beach to see the sun rise.
Get a bottle of wine and drive to the beach to see the sun set
(On the Northern Gulf Of Mexico, you get both!!!)
Go to lunch.
Have a picnic.
Bike rides
Walks
Check Heavens-Above Home Page , then look for satellites across the night sky.
Just sit outside on a warm night or inside by the fire on a cold night, and talk and/or listen to music.

Turn the idiot box off!!!


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## LuvMyH (Nov 11, 2009)

We like to find concerts from On Demand to watch together. This usually results in dancing. Well, I dance- he tries, but he's Scottish-lol! Music on Saturday nights is something we've enjoyed ever since we got together. We aren't into going to bars every weekend anymore, so we have fun at home a lot more.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## HappyWife40 (Aug 23, 2011)

1. We ride our bikes to the grocery store and pick up a few things. 
2. Guacamole night - Make and eat together. To the one who chops the jalapeno, make sure you wear gloves if you are going to be intimate that night - jalapeno or habanero juice on the naughty bits will make everything come to a screeching halt (and I do mean screeching!) 
3. Bonfire night
4. Bikeride and a picnic. Pack a blanket, wine and some snacks and find a shady spot for a couple of hours. 
5. Massage night - LOTS of candles and good massage oil.

These are some of the things we have done in the past month. I was just thinking that we haven't had a date in awhile, then I started making this list. I guess we are doing OK after all.


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## Cherry (Sep 23, 2009)

On one of our date nights we filled up the kiddie pool on our back patio, and we have a semi-privacy fence, my H boiled about two pots of water and put it in there too to warm it up more, along with bubble bath. We took a candle out there, a few drinks and went skinny dipping. It was probably our cheapest, best date nights


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## SepticChange (Aug 21, 2011)

Very good ideas. Unfortunately my husband will probably think many of these are cheesy but I'd love to do them all at some point. But we don't have kids..
We already do cook together and watch a movie every night. Also, we work out together so those seem like normal everyday things instead of "dates."


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## Riverside MFT (Oct 5, 2009)

Keep them coming. I love hearing about all of the different ideas. I plan on implementing some of them in my own marriage.


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## Created2Write (Aug 25, 2011)

Some of our favorites: 
-Pick up some fast food and watch a movie or break out the Netflix. 

-Go to 7/11 and pick up a couple hot dogs, fill them to almost overflowing with their free chili and drive to the city's look out over the rest of the city and into downtown. It's pretty. 

-Play Halo together.


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## DanF (Sep 27, 2010)

SepticChange said:


> Very good ideas. Unfortunately my husband will probably think many of these are cheesy but I'd love to do them all at some point. But we don't have kids..
> We already do cook together and watch a movie every night. Also, we work out together so those seem like normal everyday things instead of "dates."


A lot of them are cheesy and corny.
That's part of what makes them so much fun!


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## heartsbeating (May 2, 2011)

DanF said:


> A lot of them are cheesy and corny.
> That's part of what makes them so much fun!


:iagree:


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## SepticChange (Aug 21, 2011)

I don't mind cheesy.

Oh, my husband would love it if I was into video games. He's all about Halo and Black Ops. Unfortunately those don't seem interesting to me. I sometimes watch him play though.


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## heartsbeating (May 2, 2011)

SepticChange said:


> I don't mind cheesy.
> 
> Oh, my husband would love it if I was into video games. He's all about Halo and Black Ops. Unfortunately those don't seem interesting to me. I sometimes watch him play though.


Could you find a game you'd both enjoy playing? 

I get super competitive and bad ass with fighting games (like Mortal Combat). We haven't played in years but I remember we'd end up in hysterics over some of the games we played such as Star Wars. We'd goof around making the characters dance and acting stupid, between rounds of challenging each other to kick ass. Might have to hook up the console again soon.


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## SepticChange (Aug 21, 2011)

heartsbeating said:


> Could you find a game you'd both enjoy playing?
> 
> I get super competitive and bad ass with fighting games (like Mortal Combat). We haven't played in years but I remember we'd end up in hysterics over some of the games we played such as Star Wars. We'd goof around making the characters dance and acting stupid, between rounds of challenging each other to kick ass. Might have to hook up the console again soon.


Oh yeah, I forgot Mortal Combat! See, it's not the game that doesn't interest me it's just video games in general. Not my cup of tea. I played here and there as a teenager but just when I was bored. I suppose I should try again. I know he'd really appreciate it if I did. Never asked me to though.


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