Are you wondering how you can reconnect with your honey (even though you are technically “together” 24/7)? It still feels like something’s missing, right? You need a date night. A special time just for the two of you. Let’s come up with some stay at home date ideas for couples who need to mix things up a little bit to keep the love spicy and alive.
If you are anything like me, you are respecting the stay at home orders as much as possible. I am blessed to have my significant other be able to work at home safely. Even with all our together time, there are days that we are experiencing a disconnect.
Our days are spent consumed with working on our computers, participating in meetings and calls with coworkers, helping the kids out with what they need, doing enough chores mixed in to keep a house full of people somewhat orderly. And keeping up with friends and family at a distance via FaceTimes, Zoom calls and talking on the phone. We are connected all day long to the “world” via social media and the news but also feeling so far separated from it. Trying to process the madness going on in our country and our world in this season is so difficult. It’s a lot.
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Importance of date night for married couples
So let’s unpack why we should bother with a date night when we have been together every day without ceasing for the last 80 days and counting! Some couples might say, “Yeah, we might have just experienced a little “too much togetherness time” for the past three months.”
Still, it doesn’t mean you felt really connected, or romantic, or into each other—one of the most important reasons for a regular date night commitment.
Despite all our togetherness in the same house, often in the same room, we can be so distracted that we don’t even realize the other person is in there. So if you’re like me and you’re wondering how you can enjoy a little “couple time,” just the two of you, in a house filled with other people, and maybe other little people that won’t leave you alone all day long, read on.
Even if you and your darling do not have children, or you’re empty nesters social distancing alone at home, all the craziness of everything that is going on is a lot to handle. Disconnecting and focusing on your love for each other would be a welcome change. A way to recharge.
So let’s get started and see if we can’t get some creative ideas flowing to keep things spicy while you stay at home.
The struggle for couples with kids at home
No babysitters are allowed inside the house, kids at home are still young, your teens need to be supervised, so they stay safe, so don’t run off into freedom right into the arms of asymptomatic friends (the struggle bus for the teens is real right now).
You are basically prisoners to your own home, and so are your children. But that’s a topic for another time, check out an interesting read at Help! I need a break from my kids (and spouse)!
So figuring out stay at home date ideas for couples is a must for this period of our lives. We can’t let our love lives deteriorate just because there is a deadly disease threatening people’s lives across the globe.
Stay at home date ideas for couples that won’t break the bank.
First, let’s acknowledge that a lot of people have taken a financial hit during this spring season, and it looks to continue this way at least the short term for the foreseeable future. So let’s start with inexpensive or free ways to enjoy a stay at home date with your love.
Check out these almost free ways to have a couple’s night at home.
Dinner for two
Ah, dinner for two. Time away from the rest of the family. Whether it is a romantic dinner for two or eating pizza while listening to music out on the front porch, singling out a little time together with no media distractions would be a good rule of thumb and can help you simulate a dinner out in a restaurant or a night out.
Dinner ideas 1: one of you can cook or you can cook together if you are the nice kind of civilized couple that does not argue about cooking methods. Or one of you can cook and the other can help clean up. Either way, this is the most economical way to enjoy your favorite dinner for two together.
Dinner idea 2: Order take-out food from your favorite restaurant and have it nicely plated. It’s a win-win for everyone, you support your favorite restaurant, so it is still there after we open back up, and you can have your stay-at-home dinner date.
Act like you would if you actually went out to eat, no phones (I sure hope that won’t feel like a new rule, and if it does, you are WELCOME!) and no TV.
Being together is the goal of your “dinner in.” Talk about what’s new, what’s on your mind, what’s troubling you, what you are grateful for, how excited you are for some ALONE time later. Wink, wink. Be together and be present for each other.
Dessert for two
Maybe you had family dinner together with the kids, why not save your dessert to share with just the two of you once you get some alone time after bedtime?
TV time with snacks
When the work is finally done, the little kids are finally in bed, the teens are doing their own thing, and you finally have some time to yourselves, why not enjoy some time watching your favorite TV show (not news) with a bowl of your favorite snacks.
Snacks can be fruit, veggies with hummus, salty snacks, a cheese charcuterie board with crackers. Whatever you like, but make it special by preparing it, making a fun spread, and serving your loved one this fun surprise.
Movie night
This time, it is a movie night complete with streaming movie or DVD, popcorn, or favorite movie night snacks. Cuddle up and take turns picking movies you can both enjoy together.
Couples Only Game night
Ooh, let the competitive spirit roll with a couple’s game night. Bust out your favorite cards, dominoes, checkers, chess, Connect 4, Scrabble, Sequence, Jenga, Nmbr 9 (which is a favorite in our family, my husband loves this one), whatever games are designed for two players. The choices are numerous.
Make it a fun, competitive night by raising the stakes of play and granting the winner a “special treat” after the game is won. Winner decides.
Strip poker anyone?
Take the dog for a walk together, hold hands and talk
Walking the dog together is the cheapest and most straightforward of all the date ideas. Next time the dog needs to go out, bring your partner along, take your time, walk the neighborhood, take the “long way” home, hold hands, catch up on the news of the day at work, kiss, and reconnect. You don’t even need a designated date night scheduled to pull this reconnection tool off.
If you have teens, they won’t even notice you took five extra minutes for your walk, and they can keep an eye and ear out for any littles playing or sleeping at home. If you do have littles that need to come along, that’s fine too, let them take charge of the dog, while you two hang back and hold hands.
It’s always the little things that make the biggest difference anyway, right?
Have a Stay at Home Picnic
Dates don’t have to be in the evening. What about having a picnic in the backyard/front porch/patio/roof, etc.? Lay out the picnic blanket, the food, and drinks. Bring out a portable speaker and play some tunes, and enjoy each other and the day.
But if you can catch the sunset, what a lovely way to start your date night.
Enjoy a picnic, backyard, under the stars
Light up the firepit, make some s’mores, have some drinks, whatever you guys enjoy, and take some time to take in the stars with your sweetheart and the warmth of the fire.
Why not set up the tent for a backyard campout under the stars? Your kids will want to join you for the novelty fun factor, so you may have to make a deal.
The first night you try this, just let the kids enjoy a backyard campout. Then the next night, after the kids are tucked safely in their beds inside, sneak out there just the two of you. Complete the romance factor by laying out petals inside the tent. Have your lanterns set the mood. Pretend the animals you are hearing are wild, and depending on where you live, they might be!
I could easily file this stay at home date idea under the hot and spicy section below for obvious reasons.
Hot and Spicy Stay at home date ideas for couples
So, you want to have a spicy night at home? I mean romantic and loving? Try these ideas to keep things hot, and I don’t mean corona fever either.
One of the funniest videos that went around recently had to do with a towel challenge, a woman wore nothing but a towel, and would walk into the room her lover was in and drop the towel. Reactions were recorded for our amusement. Generally, it involved the dropping of a video controller and a hot pursuit.
I mentioned this idea to my husband and I think I even tried it one afternoon. Sadly he turned to look at me, smirked and said, “we have a house full of kids in every room awake right this moment, what am I supposed to do with this?” Dang, he was right. Clearly, in the video, all those youngins had no pesky children to peep in on their frolicking. Ah well.
I think we need to talk about the reality of kids being home and adults not having any privacy. This is an issue for parents on a regular basis, but now kids are not going to school, for what seems like forever. They are home all day long, and really can’t go outside to play with friends for hours on end. Because of this, the window for romance has really shrunken and parents will need to be creative.
Couples without children or empty nesters will have an easier time finding opportunities. Your issue will be stirring up the juices to get out of the mundane routine and create romantic moments.
So how do you keep things spicy and have a romantic stay at home date with your lover?
Let’s go back to basics. What did you do back in the day when you were first lovers?
That might be all well and good, but what if you are simply having a hard time getting into the mood. Especially with all the added stress, you might be feeling? Give these ideas a try.
Bathe together
Bathing or showering together is probably a good idea, especially since it may be been a couple of days since your last shower in general. Thanks stay at home precautions! Even if you have perfect hygiene habits, bathing together can be an exciting way to get the juices flowing, reconnect with your bodies, and turn on the romance factor.
Massage time
We are all feeling the stress of a drastic lifestyle change. Working from home is wrecking our backs and necks. Sitting on beds and couches all day isn’t helping either. Lack of regular movement is causing body aches and pains.
A massage would be awesome right about now. Don’t we all need an opportunity to relax? So get out your favorite oils and lotion and give your lover a massage to work out the kinks and to show you love them and care for them. The physical act of deep pressure can get everyone in the mood as well.
Get flowers
There is something about flowers that are so pretty and smell so good. Its a treat and can go a long way to show affection and set the mood. Rose petals could help set a romantic scene in a room you’ve probably spent more time recently than you ever would have hoped or dreamed. Use flowers to convert it from an office/living room/workout area, into a beautiful oasis.
You could also get a fancy dinner to go from a nice restaurant and plate it, set the dinner table with candles and flower petals, kick the kids out of the dining room, and play some music to set the mood.
Or if you are morning people, more power to you, by all means!
Escape for a makeout session in the car
If you have kids, and cannot get away, find an opportunity to get away and meet your lover in the car for a makeout session. While your kids are watching their favorite show with a bowl of chips in their laps to occupy them, run out there and get busy. It will be minutes before they notice you are gone, if they notice at all.
Lock yourselves in your room, allow no interruptions!
Once everyone is in bed, lock the door, and throw away the key!
For my fellow friends with teenagers who have taken to playing their PlayStations well into the night, you might have to find yourself going into stealth mode, or developing some strange sleeping patterns.
I know couples who are finding themselves waking up at random times in the middle of the night to have the privacy they desire.
As I always say, where there is a will, there is a way.
If all else fails, remember that tent and that car? By any means necessary, your spouse is your priority and vice versa. Make it happen.
Flirt all day and build up the anticipation for your stay at home date
Lastly, as you go about your day at home with your partner, slip in teases here and there to build up anticipation for a fun date night. Flirting is so helpful in making the day fun and aligning your romantic intentions. Maybe write a note and slip it onto your spouse’s keyboard while they are in a meeting. Whisper your plans in their ear. Stare at them over lunch and give them the knowing eye. Keep it fun!
If you have teenagers and young kids at home
When your kids spy their parents investing time and care into their love, with a stay at home date night, it will be like a warm blanket for their troubled souls. Your teenagers might snigger and tease you guys for being corny and romantic, but rest assured, they want to know deep down that their parents’ relationship is solid.
Your kids want to be assured that your marriage is not going to crumble like it seems the world is doing right now. Be the rock for your kids by investing in the foundation of your family. The foundation of your family is your marriage. Keep it strong by loving one another, especially during all this stress and uncertainty.
These stay at home date ideas for couples in love are so fun, easy to pull off, and inexpensive, that you might find yourself preferring these even when it totally safe to go back out there into the world.
Its intimacy is part of the fun. Not having to behave a certain way or managing other people, aka strangers, while you are trying to have a fun date with your mate might be the most appealing part of it all.
My hope is you’ll plan out the next few date nights, get them on the calendar, and look forward to your special, exclusive time together.
Enjoy date night you two!
Chandra is the chocolate-chip loving mother of 2 teenage girls who started over again with a baby boy in her 40’s! She is the author of The Mom’s Playbook to Conquering Softball Season. She gives other moms the tools they need to prepare their daughters for real life. Her content is centered on helping girls grow up to be well-rounded, equipped, expressive, confident, intelligent, capable, kind and independent.
