TGIF! I know it really shouldn't matter to me since I am retired, but I am glad that today is Friday. I still feel the rhythm of the week since my husband works Monday through Friday. It does get a little confusing in the summer when my younger son works Thursday through Sunday, but I still enjoy Fridays and the promise of the weekend. When our kids were little, Friday night was always pizza night. After working all week, I was tired and didn't want to cook another dinner, and everyone loved pizza. We looked forward to our pizza nights together. They were a fun way for the family to end the busy week. However, the reason that I love Friday nights now is because it is date night!
My husband and I have always had a date night since our kids were very little. We realized that we missed each other and decided to start having a weekly date night. You know how it is: you work all week, pick up the kids from daycare, fix dinner, spend time with the kids, put them to bed, do laundry, dishes, etc., fall into bed exhausted, and hardly ever talk to each other! After 13 years of marriage without kids, we missed our time together to talk, eat a leisurely meal, and just enjoy being together. So we invented our form of date night. We didn't have parents around to babysit and couldn't afford to pay for babysitters, so we decided to put the kids to bed a little earlier on Saturday nights, cook dinner together, pour a glass of wine, and eat a leisurely dinner while catching up on our week. Sometimes we would follow this up with a movie we had rented or listening to music, but the thing I always looked forward to was talking and reconnecting as adults and best friends.
Once our kids got older with their own social lives, my husband and I changed our date night to Fridays and would go out for dinner. This started when I was very busy with my career and working an incredible number of hours. I looked forward to this night every week so I could "dump" from the workweek. (This also meant that my husband only had to listen to me complain about the stresses of work one day a week!) I was then able to leave work behind and enjoy the weekend with my family. We would have a glass of wine, eat our dinner, share dessert, and then have coffee-taking hours to enjoy each other's company and talk away from our children. We continue this practice even now.
We have some favorite spots for dinner. If the weather is nice, we often go to restaurants with outdoor seating so we can have dinner al fresco. We have one standby where the staff know us, and we know some of the other Friday night customers. It is a fun, friendly evening. At least once each summer, we have dinner at a restaurant on a lake where we can watch the boats arrive at the dock. Some places we go have outdoor fireplaces or heaters for cooler evenings. The venue really doesn't matter-what is important is being together. Tonight my husband and I are going to see an early movie followed by dinner. I can't wait! After 38 years of marriage, it's good to know that I still look forward to spending time talking with my husband; that time together is still valued and important.
So, in my world TGIF has a special, joyful meaning! I hope that you are able to develop a meaningful tradition for your Friday nights if you haven't done so already. No matter which day of the week is your Friday, I think it is important to celebrate the end to the work week and the beginning of the weekend. If today is your celebration day, enjoy your evening. Whatever you do, find time to connect with someone who is important to you. Enjoy!
Have you found your joy today?
Yes, weekly date night! Just the two of us out somewhere, anywhere, just as long as we are together.
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