by Maggie Downs posted in Life

Last week was date night, so my husband and I had a romantic night in which we gazed deeply into each other?s eyes, our hearts practically beating as one, and it felt just like falling in love all over again.
Just kidding. We went to Target, and I walked the aisles alone while he pooped.
It sounds like the set-up to a joke, but this was too real. Of all the adjustments I?ve had to make during post-baby life, Date Night has been one of the most difficult. 
I almost can?t believe there was once a time when my husband and I, if we felt the need to reconnect or spend time together as a couple, we could do just that ? dinner by candlelight, a night at the movies, a weekend getaway in which we never leave the hotel room. It was so easy. Now we compartmentalize love, wedge it into our Friday nights like just another appointment on the shared family calendar. 
 
It?s not just that the logistics of Date Night are difficult, although they do pose a challenge. My husband and I have no family in our area, and we don?t have a regular babysitter. It's also hard to justify the expense of hiring child care on top of the expense of going out. So the light and easy bliss of Date Night is already a burden.
But here?s the real issue: Date Night is too much pressure.
It?s like prom night or a bachelorette party, an event hyped to the point where it has reached epic status ? anything less than, and it feels like a failure somehow. Plus on top of...