Date Night at Home Ideas for Adoptive Parents

NOTE: This article is from an old blog Golden wrote on from 2017 to 2019. It was called Mama Wants an RV. The blog has since expired but the memories remain. Thanks for reading!

Original Post from March 31, 2018

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I thought it would be fun to recall some of our date nights at home over the years. Whether the kids are home or not, we know how to have fun!

These date night at home ideas are great for adoptive parents too since so many times we are trapped at home for long amounts of time without respite. Yes, a week can be a long amount of time when working with kids from hard places!

This list was found online from The Art of Manliness. (What a great website name!) We have tried most of the date night at home ideas mentioned on the website. Some more memorable than others. Just recalling the memories was a lot of fun!

Play a Board/Card Game

I love that this list starts off with one of my all-time favorite activities. It hasn’t been until just recently that we have played a couple games, just the two of us. Before the kids reached the older teen years, we were always playing games with them, so this idea would not have appealed to us for a date night. Now it’s a special treat! We enjoy Ticket to Ride, Ingenious, Monopoly Deal, and our newest game, Nefarious.

Eat Take-Out By Candlelight

Take-out, yes. By candlelight, I don’t think so. I’m pretty sure this would annoy my husband to the point where he would pull his flashlight off his side and hold an interrogation light over the pesky mushroom that keeps rolling around his plate. Forget the chopsticks. They would be lit on fire and stuck in the hot wax to make the ambiance brighter.

Make Dinner or Dessert Together

Hmmm. If making dinner includes doing the dishes, then we have this down perfect. In fact, it was just yesterday when we were making a tasty stew together as we were both homesick. (There’s a way to hang out! Kids at school and we’re still in our pajamas.) We do both enjoy Spicy Beef Noodle Soup, or anything spicy for that matter.

Paint With Watercolors

Absolutely love our paint nights! Haven’t tried watercolor yet, but acrylic painting on stretched canvas following a YouTube video works great. The Art Sherpa is one of my favorite instructors, along with Angela Anderson.

Create an At-Home “Bookstore”

I drive my husband batty with bookshelves. I think we have twelve not including our huge entertainment center. We probably own close to 500 books, although I’m working hard to reduce that number. There’s no way we’ll make it in an RV with that many books. I’m really working hard to only buy books and movies in their digital format, so I can play them on my Kindle or laptop anytime.

Ask Each Other Questions

Another date night idea that would drive my husband batty. Granted he did indulge me while on a marriage retreat. I think we got through five questions off the 25-questions list from the Love Dare Devotional book.

Play Indoor Mini Golf/Croquet

We should really do this. We have free passes on our fridge after all. I think they’ve been there two months. Why haven’t we done this yet? Oh yeah, it’s not at home. I went back to The Art of Manliness website for clarification. The idea here is that you create your own indoor version. Sorry, too much work for me, unless we’re going to putt all the toys the kids left out on the floor back into the toy box.

Do a Puzzle Together

Love this! We first did this while on our honeymoon. Our condo up in the mountains was fully stocked with everything we needed, including puzzles and games. A 1000-piece Fourth of July scene came alive on the large dining table amidst newlywed jitters. The best part is I found the exact same puzzle at a garage sale years later.

Have a Backyard Picnic

Uh, maybe the front yard. Our backyard is full of weeds and weed smoke (praying the neighbors move).

Read Aloud From Books

I never thought about doing this together. We used to read to our kids all the time. Come to think of it, my husband loves to read his daily stories from his flip calendar to me right before bed. Does that count?

Make a Craft Together

Oh, boy. Dainty craft making and greasy mechanic don’t quite seem to fit in the same sentence. Now if we’re talking rustic metal art creations, then maybe. We did try to build a picture frame together. It’s still not done.

Watch a Movie Outside

Hey, this would be a good idea while camping. I can take my laptop and put in a DVD. We can snuggle by the fire and wave at mosquitos floating in the air. As far as this at home, I don’t see it happening until the neighbors move, or we get a closed in porch.

Fireplace Weenie/Marshmallow Roast

Love this idea, but my husband hates marshmallows. We did have a marshmallow gunfight once. In fact, he saved the guns because he had so much fun. I guess we could get them out and try that around the house. I can just see it now. “What’s this sticky white stuff on my door?” I can see my kids sniffing the walls and possibly licking them too. We should save this one for camping. Nothing like marshmallows to draw a bear right to your party.

Have a Tasting Party

I’m guessing they mean wine here. Neither of us are fond of the stuff. I’d say we could taste cheese, but I’m dairy-free. (I miss cheese!) Maybe we could have a jellybean tasting. Jelly Belly makes hundreds of flavors.

Have a Vinyl Listening Party

I had to go back to the website to make sure this meant what I thought it did. Yes, we even have a record player and this is totally doable. In fact, every Christmas we listen to many songs while sitting in front of the Christmas tree starring at the twinkling lights and sipping hot cocoa. It’s lovely.

Take a Bubble Bath

Been there, done that, not gonna happen again without a giant tub! We are considering a hot tub though. That would be awesome!

Create a Bucket/Travel/Microadventure List

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Listen to a Spooky Old-time Radio Show

Spooky, really? How about just some old radio shows. My husband loves the “Who’s on First” episode by Abbot and Costello.

There you have it, 18 date night at home ideas that are sure to add a little spice back into your life. That is, if you don’t have enough already. Sometimes what we need is just a simple night of rest after a long day of choosing which battle to fight and practicing our connected parenting methods. In fact, I’m thinking we need some downtime making dessert together. Pudding is on the menu tonight!

I hope you enjoy one or more of these date night at home ideas. Let us know how it goes in the comments below.