My husband and I have had more dates in the last two years then all our previous married years combined. How do they do that on a grad students income, you ask. I will share the secret: Trading Babysitting. It sounds so simple, I know. I just wish I had learned of it sooner. So many years of missed date night! (fists in the air) There are, however, a few elements involved in Trading Babysitting so it may not work out for all.
1. Have the right schedule. Not everyone can count on having every Friday night off of work. We have been lucky that Ryan is always done at around 5pm.
2. Have friends you trust. That's a no brainer.
3. Friends should have kids compatible with your own. This part can be a bit more tricky. If all works out these kids will see each other every Friday night so they need to be happy about who they are playing with. Its good to have a mix of boys and girls so no one is left out. Also, be aware of the ages. No kid wants to be suck playing with someone 3 years younger than them. Its a big deal when your six.
4. Have more that one set of friends. This is the key to making it all so great. If there are 3 families then each couple gets 2 dates for one night of babysitting. Genius! I know. I suppose you could add as many families as you want, so long as your willing to watch all those kids.
Our current situation is great. We are in a group with two other families.
Graham Munk Ashton
Girl - 6 Girl - 8 Girl - 6
Boy - 4 Boy - 5 Girl - 4
Girl - 1 Girl - 3 Girl - 2
Boy - 1 Boy - 4 mon
Everyone is really happy right now. Unfortunately for us the Munks are moving away in June. We are going to be very sad to see them go. So we are now on the hunt for another family. Hopefully one with some boys.
Ryan and I have really, really loved being able to spend so much time together. Grad school is stressful at times, so Ryan looks forward to Friday every week because that is the one night he allows himself to forget about work. We get a chance to talk and catch up on things that happened during the week. I tell him about events that happened with the kids and he fills me in on whats happening at school/work. A lot of the time we will just daydream about our future, the "someday" house, car, vacation, job. That is one thing that Ryan and I have always been really good at doing, talking to each other. I love it.
Our dates vary according to what is going on. We go out to eat or catch movie. (We have become a lot pickier about what we are willing to spend $20 so see in theater.) We have had the occasional picnic when dinner out is not in the budget. There are a few museums that we go to very couple of months when the art is rotated out. Of course there is shopping but we try not to do that too often. It's to easy to buy things we don't really need. Our favorite thing to do currently is hang out at Barnes and Noble. We both love to read so we will stroll around and find books that we can later get at the library. Plus the hot chocolate at the Starbucks is pretty good.
As we move and our children get older it may become harder to find other families that would want to do a "group". But for now I am really having a lot of fun and I sure love my husband. Life is good. :)
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