With Valentine’s Day approaching, my husband and I are trying to put together a plan for a sitter not necessarily that day but hopefully within the week. The top thing I was blind to before I had a kid was the whole “finding a sitter” thing. I was always available for all the good stuff, happy hours, weekend getaways, last minute girls night out while my friends with children were like...hmmm I don’t know about that. I didn’t quite get it!

With a 1.5 year old and now living in a new state, it makes it twice as hard to make those “date nights” possible. It takes twice as much planning, twice as much time, twice as much preparation for the actual date because now you have to drop off baby, pick up baby, pack a bag and the list as we know goes on. In the end it’s all worth it because date nights in marriages are 100% beneficial to the health of the relationship.

However, because life is life, sometimes making a real date night happen isn’t always possible. That doesn’t mean give up, it just means move on to plan B. I’ve created a list of 5 things for couples to do at home when finding a babysitter seems impossible. If you have a kid like mine, bedtime is 8 pm consistently. If you don’t have a designated bedtime for your kid, develop one, it will play a huge part in the productiveness of this in home “date night”.

Movie Night: This is probably hands down number one on any list of things to do. Yes, hubby & I still do Netflix & Chill. To make it interesting, watch sequels (we recently watched The Nutty Professor 1 & 2 not on purpose but we were laughing non stop), pick a genre, a classic, a documentary, whatever floats your boat. Mix that with wine, a good meal, good snacks and ladies I know its hard but try to not talk the entire movie. I’m guilty of that!
Taco Night: Another classic, usually folks do this on Tuesday but if any other day of the week works best for you, do it. Tacos & margaritas are always a good idea. However if Tacos aren’t your thing, you’ve got options. Doing a themed dinner full out can be so much fun. Other dinners can include pasta night, breakfast at night, seafood night, and veggie night just to name a few.
Spa night - Massages, manicures, pedicures, face masks, and relaxing music are all beneficial for you both. It allows you to relax and converse in a calm atmosphere. Honestly we used to do spa night in college! We’d go to Walmart and buy all the supplies, massage oil, pumice stones, tea tree oil foot treatments and chill. It’s definitely time to bring that back.
Stargazing Night: This is when you bring your backyard, front porch, deck or balcony to use preferably when the weather is nice. Sit outside, decorate with candles, lights, rose petals, talk about your dreams, discuss your goals, tell your partner what you love about them over wine and chocolates of course. We will most definitely be putting our balcony to use when the weather breaks.
Cook Off: Being in a relationship, sometimes things can get a bit competitive. We’ve had discussions about who cleans better, who makes better this or better that? Put all that competitive energy into a cook off or bake off whatever you prefer. Maybe involve your kids the next day to see whose dish they like the most and come up with a prize for the winner or punishment for the loser.

For kicks & giggles: This may be weird to some but I just had to include it. Build a blanket fort, decorate it, and watch movies underneath it. It makes you feel like a kid again but it’s fun. I must admit. I’m a frequent fort builder in my household.

I really could keep going on but this is a brief preview of just a few things you can do at home for free, all while the kid is sleeping of course. There are two things my husband and I do that I didn’t include, but I’ll share one. We just decided to do Soul-food Sunday’s and on Thursdays, we have a certain thing but I’ve shared enough. LOL. The moral of this is that it’s all about effort, taking the next step, not giving up when things don’t go the way you’ve imagined. Get creative, think outside the box and do all things with LOVE. Lastly, search for some quality baby sitters that won’t bail on you!

No babysitter? Don't fret! 5 Ways to date your partner at home...