Who loves date night? You know, the one night a month you manage to palm your child off onto someone else, normally an ever so willing grandparent, and get to spend some quality, alone time with your other half? Yes, that night. Previously known as just simply ‘a night out’ before your offspring made an appearance and these nights became so rare and important they deserved their very own name.
Sometimes though, you can’t escape parenthood for the night. Your plans to slip off to a restaurant to enjoy a meal, a meal that doesn’t involve you having to wrestle someone into a highchair and can be eaten in peace, are ruined. What happens then? Should you just give up on the idea of a date night when you can’t get a babysitter? No way! You are just going to have to get a bit creative, couples need to spend quality time together doing something special.
To help any babysitter-less couples out there enjoy a romantic night together, I have put together a list of things you can do in your own home. A list of things a little bit more exciting than having a take away in front of the telly – admit it, we have all done this and tried to convince ourselves it is just as good as going out..it’s not.
No one to babysit this Valentines day? No problem. Here are 6 date night ideas for those nights where you can’t get a babysitter….
6 date night ideas for when you can’t get a babysitter
1. PIZZA NIGHT
I don’t mean phoning up your local Dominoes and ordering your usual 12″ stuffed crust and eating it straight out the box. I mean a night where you and your other half spend time in the kitchen and make a pizza from scratch, together. There is something about cooking together I really love, I know it can be hard after a long day but you need to make the effort, it is date night after all. Ideally, you should make this amazing heart shaped pizza, simply because it is heart shaped and looks amazing.
 |
| Click to visit website |
 |
| Click to visit website |
2. ROMANTIC BATH
Bathing with the other half, some people enjoy it while others find it a bit weird. If you like to share a relaxing bath with your spouse, then why not make it a bit more romantic this valentines day? Grab some champagne and some glasses and your pretty much good to go. Make sure you don’t forget the candles
. Tell me that this bath doesn’t look like a dream to you? |
| Image source. |
3. FILM NIGHT (WITH A DIFFERENCE)
 |
| Click to visit website. |
Make sure to choose the film you want to watch in advance. Otherwise, you will end up wasting half your date night trying to decide on a film and then end up falling asleep after the first half an hour. Also, a film night at home means you can drink as much as you want without having to pay the ridiculous cinema prices for a glass of wine. Hooray!4. MAKE A MEAL YOU WOULD NEVER HAVE IN A RESTAURANT
Generally, when I go out for a meal I pick something off the menu I have had before and know I am going to like. I don’t want to have to spend loads of money buying a second meal or go hungry, so I tend to stick with what I know. A food I have always wanted to try but I am too scared to order, is sushi. I think a home made sushi date night would be really fun. We could just hide away together in the kitchen, make sushi while sharing a bottle of wine. If it turns out sushi is gross then at least I have a fridge full of alternatives at no extra cost! Obviously, it doesn’t have to be sushi, just something you have never had before and have always wanted to try.
 |
| Click to visit website. |
This sushi making kit
 |
| Click to visit website. |
A game of Mr & Mrs always goes down well…
What about Scrabble? Instead of finding any old word, you can only put down words to do with love, or those that have some kind of meaning to your relationship.
6. A PROMISE FOR MORE DATES
If you really don’t have the energy and really just want to cuddle up in front of the TV, then that’s fine. Why not add romance to your night in a different way, make your other half a promise. Promise them that you will make the effort to have more date nights and go that little bit further by having a whole load of date night ideas already lined up.
You could give them a year of dates, in a box…
 |
| Click to visit website. |
Or, why not buy cute date night jar
Do you enjoy date nights in the house? Have you got anything planned for Valentines day? Also, if you have any more romantic night in suggestions, feel free to share in the comments.
*Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links for which I receive a small commission on any purchases made.*
If you enjoyed this post I would love for you to share it 🙂
These are fab ideas! I especially like the date box. #TheList
Great list Wendy! I think I'm going to give the Valentine's Day popcorn and movie idea a go. We intended to have a homemade pizza night tonight but our little one decided to scream until 2 hours past his bedtime. Getting up and down every 5 minutes did not make for a romantic Friday evening 😉
These are great ideas, thanks for sharing #PicknMix
These are some AWESOME ideas, Wendy! We have a standard size tub, and my husband is over 6 feet tall so baths together are practically impossible ): One day I hope to have a tub like the one you shared haha! Thanks so much for sharing x
Accessible ideas – no excuse not to have date night now! #TheList
Some great ideas here! I particularly like the date night ideas 🙂 Thanks for sharing #KCACOLS
These are great ideas! I love the popcorn & cinema den! #KCACOLS
These are such fab ideas. Yes I absolutely do think that bath dreamy!I really need to give these suggestions a go as we have never had a date night before and we are in dire need of one.xx #KCACOLS
Such lovely ideas! I always think you don't have to go far or spend lots of money to have a special time together, you just need to make a bit of effort to make it special. x #KCACOLS
These are great ideas! We've been talking about ideas for date nights. These are perfect! Just what you need to make an evening special 🙂
Laura xx
#KCACOLS
Really love the date night box / jar idea…Might even make one up for valentines day. Our date nights have certainly become more sparce than once a month (sob) since having our second…we arranged one for the first time in ??? months last weekend and guess what…KIDS ILL! #twinklytuesday
Great ideas. The Valentines popcorn looks yummy. Might have to give this a go! #TwinklyTuesday
Great idea, that bath looks amazing! Thanks for linking up to #TheList x
Great ideas! My husband and I pretty much never get to go on a date outside the house, so an indoor date it is! #abitofeverything
Reading this (and weeping) it would seem that I (and OH) are about as romantic as a wheelie bin. It all sounds fabulous but the closest we get to an indoor date is falling asleep watching QI. Maybe we should try a bit harder lol X #abitofeverything
Lovely ideas! It's a great way to keep the romance alive even though the time and opportunities may be a bit lacking with tiny tots running us ragged all day.
I love the cinema den and I will be working out how to try and make one of these…
#abitofeverything x
Back again from #abitofeverything – still loving the popcorn!!
Love all of these ideas!! The pizza datenight and cinema are my favorite. I think bathing together is so romantic too. #twinkletuesday
Thanks for sharing these.There's some great ideas here. I love that cinema den with candles and movies and that pizza looks yummy!
#twinklytuesdays
Great ideas lovely! The heart shaped pizza is fab. A bubble bath would be lovely so long as the kids don't wake up lol #twinklytuesday
Fab list here – We don't really do date nights, but it would be nice to make a bit of time for each other. We mostly slob it in front of the telly with NCIS or Hawaii Five-O on, which is not so romantic! #abitofeverything
Thank you for this list!! I've been trying to think of ideas for Date Nights at home. I especially love the ideas for movie night, think I might be giving valentines popcorn a go this weekend! #abitofeverything
Some really lovely ideas here. Me and my husband do a lot of them as I just don't have anyone who could babysit! Though, not fond of the bath one. We's never both fit for a start! #KCACOLS
Fab ideas!
We used to play trivial pursuit for hours and hours every night, so less of a 'date night' but doing these things are so fun when you get the chance.
Great post.
Great ideas! I absolutely love the pizza night and little leaflet! Ray x #TwinklyTuesday
Great list! We do lots of movie nights as we are both such film buffs! There's also nothing like having a chat and a drink while the kids sleep! Thanks for sharing with #abitofeverything
Thanks. I love the date box too xx
Oh no!Atleast popcorn can be eaten cold so it doesn't matter as much if you keep getting disturbed. Have a lovely movie night xx
Thanks, glad you like them xx
Haha, I can imagine they are not very romantic if you are both squashed. Yes, I would love that bath in the picture, looks amazing.xx
No excuses at all 🙂 xx
I would love a date night jar too.xx
The cinema den looks amazing doesn't it?! Not sure how they did it though..xx
You've never had a date night?Oh you must try some of these then 🙂 xx
I completely agree. It's all about just spending quality time together, not hoe much money you spend xx
Glad you like them 🙂 xx
Oh no!!I hope you can rearrange it and get a date night soon. I definitely want to make a date jar too, I think it's really sweet xx
Looks good doesn't it?let me know what it's like, I'm not eating sweet stuff at the moment so I can't make it!xx
I know, it looks so nice doesn't it? I would love a bath like that. Thanks for hosting xx
Thanks. Sometimes dates in the house can be just as good as going out xx
Oh no, don't cry!Falling asleep in front of wi is nothing to be ashamed of :). If you feel like being romantic though, maybe the cinema bed den would be perfect for you, doesn't matter if you fall asleep then! Xx
Yes the cinema den us my favourite. Not sure how to make it without a 4 poster bed, will have to get thinking. Let me know if you manage to pull it off xx
Thanks for popping over again. That popcorn does look so good!xx
Some people think bathing together is gross, I really like it though too. Yes the pizza and den are my favourites too xx
You're welcome. Hope you get the chance to try some of them out soon xx
Oh yes, it would be a bit annoying if you had to keep getting out of the bath to see to the kids xx
You should try some of them out, the cinema den and popcorn looks like it requires the least effort :). We are usually laying on the sofa watching TV too, instead of NCIS we would be binge watching anything we can find on Netflix xx
You're welcome :). I would love to know how your Valentines popcorn turns out xx
Haha, it can be a struggle getting 2 people in to a bath. We struggle for babysitters too, it's nice to know there are romantic things we can do at home though, if we just put the effort in xx
I think as long as you are doing something together it doesn't matter what you do or if it's specifically a date night or not. Sounds like fun though, I wish I was good at Trivial Pursuit!xx
Thank you! Me too, I am going to attempt the pizza on Sunday. I am not sure if it will look as good as the picture though xx
Us too! We are always watching films. I totally agree, sometimes a chat a glass of wine is all that's needed to reconnect with your other half. Thanks for hosting xx
The date box looks fab! #twinklytuesday
Great ideas here 🙂 I think for us it'd feel like a date night if I st least put my laptop down 😉
Thanks for linking up to #Picknmix
Stevie x
Lovely ideas Wendy!! I love that popcorn!! Look so delicious!! We love staying at home and we like to watch movies so we always choose and nice movie and get a nice meal before the movie. We have done this for the past 5 years I think since we got Bella. However this weekend we are going away to the in laws so we might be lucky and have a meal out! Fingers Crossed! Thanks lovely for sharing this at #KCACOLS. Next time you will be co-hosting with me! I'm looking forward to that! 🙂 x
It does doesn't it?I think it's a great idea xx
Haha, you work too much :). Thanks for hosting xx
I love the look of the popcorn too. I hope you get to have a lovely meal out this weekend. I know, so excited to Co host with you 🙂 xx