Dating

This blog was inspired by a recent news story I saw where Zohran Mamdani, the recently elected Mayor or New York launched a new program called “Parents Night Out”. The city offered parents 4 hours of free babysitting creating an opportunity for parents to date or just relax. It received wonderful reviews and was a great success by all accounts. How wonderful to have someone in a position of power recognise the importance of couples spending time together!

Many couples I work with are overwhelmed with careers, children, responsibilities, aging parents and are unable to make dating their partner a priority. It can be especially hard when you have children in a country without family around to help, increasing pressure on couples. Gottman research shows that most couples spend very little time talking about meaningful topics outside of daily logistics. Dates provide the space for open-ended questions and emotional connection. Even when life is busy, it’s still important to prioritise our partner and have quality time together. Sometimes this may take some creative thinking! The Gottman website lists some date ideas here: https://www.gottman.com/blog/date-your-mate/

Intentionally spending time together as a couple enriches your relationship and helps provide a secure base for your children, so everyone benefits!

Have you had trouble finding time for dates and romance with your partner? Did you come up with any strategy to do this? Would love to hear your experience. Last year I got my motorbike license so that I could join my husband for rides. It was challenging but now I really enjoy riding together, it has opened up a whole new world for date ideas!