Dating : My Boyfriend and I Broadened our Definition of “Date Night”

and we’ve grown significantly closer

A few months ago, our idea of having a “date night” was common. We’d go our to dinner and likely plan some sort of activity for afterwards. This would be infrequent and became even more rare after we began putting financial restrictions on ourselves.

I believe I was the one to initiate the terminological evolution of our “date nights.” I asked him one day if he would like to pick out a movie to watch at home and said that I would plan some sort of homemade meal. I referred to it as a date night and he never questioned it. Many Sunday mornings, we get breakfast after we leave the gym. Regardless of rather we sit down or get fast food, I refer to it as a date.

The other night when I was off of work, I asked him if he wanted to go to the park and practice our writing. Completely in sync with the trend I had been following, he replied, “it’s a date.”

I agree that going out and planning actual events are important points in a relationship. However, when you start referring to little moments as “dates,” it adds an air of lightheartedness to them. It’s made me more likely to release minor irritants I had collected through the day. It’s also made me significantly less inclined to check my phone during those moments. How many times have you caught yourself checking your notifications or scrolling through social media when having dinner with your significant other? Yeah, me too. When you treat all “together” moments as dates, you’re making yourself more likely to live in the moment.

It’s also responsible from a financial point of view. It releases the idea that all dates require a massive paycheck or amount of time. We’ve saved money by having our fair share of dates either at home or in a free location but we’ve done that sneakily so that we don’t even notice. You don’t notice because these moments become so enjoyable you don’t feel pressured into spending more money. By saving money from not going out for our dates, we’ve been able to save for larger trips or adventures. (We also broadened our definition of “adventure,” but I’ll write about that another time).