Shai Coggins

I love being a mum. But, one of the things that I miss ever since I had kids is going out on dates. It has been years since my husband and I went out on our own. We haven’t been to a movie together since Finding Nemo.

This is partly because we live on our own here in Australia. We have to raise our kids without on-call grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. We don’t have any families who can work as free babysitters. And, we find it tough to leave the kids with someone we don’t really know well.

Late last year, however, my husband and I decided that we should add a bit more fun in to our relationship. We knew that we can’t possibly carry on with doing just work, completing chores, pursuing personal goals, and pouring our lives to our kids.

We need to invest in us.

So, we said that we’ll try to go out on our own at least once a month in 2008.

Well, we didn’t get that happening in January. But yesterday, we went to a simple dinner + comedy show date as a special treat. Got a babysitter, whom the kids absolutely adore (she works at the childcare too, so they already know her). And, it was good. Felt strange. But, good.

Hopefully, it won’t take a few more years for the next date to happen.

What about you? What’s dating like for you? As a single, is it all hip and happening?

Or, if you already have a partner, do you still go out on dates? When and how often?

What’s your most ideal date? Any other dating suggestions and ideas that you might have?