Friday Night Dates

I am reading a very interesting book by Judith Levine, "Not Buying It" which is about her year long experience not buying much of anything that was not essential to life. She and her husband would not even purchase movie tickets during that year or eat out as part of their experiment. Reading it makes me feel like I took a shortcut here and went down an easier path with my pledge. Tim and I really love eating out and for years treated ourselves almost every Friday night as a part of our weekly date. Recently though we have cut back and now limit ourselves to every other Friday. It was not that we typically ate out at expensive restaurants, it was just the love of eating alone without the constant interruptions from children or phones. For almost 22 years we have spent every Friday afternoon and evening alone together. We are both pretty convinced that this ritual has helped keep us sane and happily together. I have recommended this tradition to countless couples over the years and swear that scheduled time alone is an integral way to keep a relationship healthy.