How to Keep the Romance Alive on a Budget

My husband sent me this email the other day with the subject line, “Be My Valentine?”:

 

Can you arrange a babysitter for next Thu / Fri or Sat?  I'd like to take you out on a Valentines date…whatever night works best for you and/or our babysitter.

I smiled when I saw the sweet note.  My immediate next thought was of our budget that we started February 1.  I panicked… we didn’t budget for this!  We have $51 left in our “meals out” category!  We can’t go over budget in our first month of really trying!  I wrote this note back:

I love the idea, but we just can’t do it this month… babysitter plus dinner would put us way over our budget.  How about a romantic dinner at home?

 

That evening we laughed about the email exchange.  We agreed that we had to stick to budget and decided to have a nice dinner once the girls are in bed.   A couple hours later, hubby asks “Where’s that teddy I bought you for Valentine’s Day the year we found out we were having Zoe?”  I, in mommy mode and engrossed in a show on Netflix (yes, cable had to go in our new budget!) replied: “Hmm, probably in one of the girl’s rooms or in the basement”. 

 He was not referring to a teddy bear, he was talking about this:

 

Valentine’s Day 2009 we were in full on baby making mode.  I received roses at work, we went out for an expensive dinner without a single thought of budget, I wore a dress I bought just for the occasion, we exchanged gifts and likely thought that we couldn’t love each other more than we did at that time.  When we found out in early March that we were expecting our first child, I’m sure we didn’t think of the impact to our Valentine’s traditions.  

Our first daughter arrived in early November and we were amazed not only at how the love in our hearts swelled for this perfect little person, but how our love for one another grew as well.   Again we felt that same heart swell when we welcomed our second daughter 20 months later.

Fast forward to Valentine’s Day 2013.  We have two amazing girls and hearts full of love.  As I sit at my computer in the kitchen our walls are decorated with dollar store hearts, my table littered with various red and pink crafts.  We will be baking cupcakes and using lots of special sprinkles, and making sure to call the girls’ grandparents who are all miles away on the East coast.   

Our date nights these days are usually spent at home in the happy quiet that exists when the girls are fast asleep. This is our new romance.  This Valentine’s Day, once bath and bedtime are over, we will be grilling a couple of steaks and sharing a nice bottle of wine.  Our meal will likely be followed by a couple of messy cupcakes with more icing and sprinkles than we would prefer, but we’ll enjoy every bite. The evening won’t be flashy and it won’t be expensive, but it will be romantic in our own way.  We will try to avoid talking about the girls, but we’ll forgive ourselves when the conversation inevitably strays there.  Our family is the biggest love in our lives now and that is just fine with us.  Who knows, maybe I will even pull out the teddy… and I’m not talking about a teddy bear.

 

This blog was written by Paula Porter - mom of 2 and a momstown Milton member