I'm a Cheap Date!

Not a very complimentary title? Cheap = inexpensive, not anything else you mighta been thinkin'!

Dates can be EXPENSIVE! Babysitting costs an arm-and-two-legs. Gas prices are ridiculous. Food, shows, events...it all adds up.

When my kids were really little, we got a babysitter once or twice. By the time we dressed up, got the kids prepared for the sitter, figured out what they were going to eat, and took the sitter through the long list of instructions, I wondered WHY ARE WE DOING THIS? Then it'd be cold or rainy, the restaurant line would be long, the arm of my movie seat would be sticky with Cola...or a cell phone would go off during the show. Not my idea of a good time.

Our kids generally go to bed by 8p.m. on school nights. Sometimes they're in by 7:30 with a half-hour to read. Even 'LilDude, age 5, likes to "read" in bed, imitating his siblings. If I plan in advance, my husband and I can start "date night" at 8p.m. This is how it works...

At 7p.m., he drives to town while I get the kids ready for bed. He chooses a DVD, I brush teeth. He picks up Chinese takeout, I read bedtime stories. I shut the kids' bedroom doors, he walks in the door. We both pile our plates high with steamin' Chinese food and head upstairs to watch a movie from the comfort of our no-Cola couch in front of a blazing pellet stove.

Ahhhhh. Now that's a date! All for less than $20! (Including leftover Chinese takeout for lunch the next day.)