Date Time with Spouse

Since the beginning of the new year, my husband has insisted that we have date time each week. Insisted - isn't that hilarious? I mean, what wife wouldn't like to have date time? I know I was thrilled with the idea - until he introduced the rule: no discussion of the children! Well, since we have only one child, you can imagine that he is a topic of conversation quite often. Actually, as we quickly discovered, he is THE topic of the majority of our conversations. And why shouldn't he be? He is our son. We love him. We want what is best for him, blah, blah, blah. You know how it goes.

But my DH wants more. More time with us as a couple. More time to strengthen our relationship. More time to talk about our lives apart from our child who will always be our son, but who will soon be leaving the nest. At first I balked at the idea. Not realizing how often our world revolves around this teen, I thought it would be no big deal to discuss him for just a few minutes during our 4-hour-date time. Then I tried NOT talking about him, and I was amazed at how many times he came up in the conversation.

Mr. Prince Charming would grin and shake his head. "Nope. Not allowed!" Pretty soon I was laughing with him. And after the first couple of dates, we no longer had to purposefully focus on ourselves as an old married couple - it came naturally. We started laughing at old jokes, reliving earlier times, and planning for the future. We have found ourselves discussing hobbies to explore together and trips to take sans child. It has quickly become one of the highlights of my week.

And, do you know what has been the most amazing thing about date time? Since we started doing this (4 hours together, once a week), we've found ourselves more relaxed throughout the rest of the week. We approach our family time with renewed energy, and we can see the positive impact it is having on ....our son! Wow! Our Lord created marriage and when we do things to help our spouses, to spend time with them, to focus on just them...the blessings overflow to the rest of the family. Our Lord is gracious and merciful!