Creating The Perfect Stay-At-Home Valentine’s Day Date

Dont fall into a rut!

Lauren Tamm

After a few years of marriage, sometimes you fall in a bit of a rut. Especially in military life when service members are gone frequently for work, the distance in your relationship can start to grow without even realizing it. I blame it on the chaos of military life. It has a way of taking over, making it easy to forget all the things that make a marriage special.

Since Valentine’s Day is fast approaching, I thought it would be fun to surprise my husband with a very special stay-at-home Valentine’s Day date and help us both to remember all the reasons we fell in love in the first place.

Maybe you feel the same way too? Maybe you are a military wife just like me and are looking to reconnect with your husband in a really special and purposeful way on Valentine’s Day?

Well, I have a plan, and I’m dying to share it with you. Here is how I plan to bring my husband and I closer together by creating the ultimate stay-at-home Valentine’s Day date:

Pick up your favorite meal.

This could be your go-to romantic meal from the grocery store, which for us is always steaks and potatoes on the grill, accompanied by a salad with a homemade vinaigrette. This meal goes perfectly with a glass of red wine, which is my favorite aphrodisiac. If you want to simplify the meal even further and save yourself from any cooking or cleaning, you could order a romantic meal to-go from your favorite restaurant. I try to pick it up during the daytime while my husband is at work, and keep it in the fridge until it’s time for dinner.

Put the kids to bed early.

If you are like us and have kids, then enjoying a stay-at-home date after the kids are in bed is a great thing. You don’t have to worry about arranging a babysitter or rushing to get home. We always do a 7:30 pm kid bedtime in our home, but I know this doesn’t work for everyone. Hopefully this Valentine’s Day, you can successfully put your kids to bed early. After the kids are in bed, Valentine’s Day date starts.

Enjoy a romantic candlelight dinner.

Turn all the lights off and enjoy the meal that you picked up early over candlelight. Put on your favorite music or you could even play a digital music station that is from the artist of your wedding song. Enjoy your favorite beverage, and just take your time enjoying your date together.

Look back on your years together.

One of the most romantic, yet simple, things you can do on Valentine’s Day is to look back through all your pictures together. Check out the pictures from when you first met all the way to your wedding day and now present life. This will help you reconnect and remember how you felt about each other throughout your journey. It’s also a great conversation starter. Pictures help us remember funny stories and reminisce together. If you wanted to take it a step further, you could also create a picture slideshow with music and watch it together.

Exchange words of appreciation.

During this time, share 10 things you appreciate about your husband and vice versa. If you are ever feeling distant in your marriage, this is an awesome way to remember why your spouse is so awesome. When you both share, it’s also a great way for you to feel special as a spouse. It helps you remember that your husband loves you as much as you love him.

Let the night go where it may.

After doing all the above, I’m just going with the flow, and let the night go where it may. Sometimes over-planning too much can kill spontaneity when it happens. So I’m just going to try the above few things. They are enough to help us reconnect in a really special way but simple enough that I can actually plan the evening and know it will happen.

Marriage in the military is challenging, but reconnecting with your spouse and growing your marriage doesn’t have to be. Growing your connection may come in the form of a very special stay-at-home Valentine’s Day date. Who knows? This might just be your most romantic Valentine’s Day yet.

Lauren Tamm is a mother, military spouse, freelance writer, and coffee lover. When she isn’t busy chasing a toddler around the house, she loves to blog about practical parenting, enjoying motherhood and navigating military life.