The scenario:

Sometimes when Watergirl comes to visit Mancub can’t help becoming all starry-eyed. He can actually be motivated to…wait for it…clean his room if that’s the condition set. They are really adorable, just sitting on the couch next to one another, holding hands, staring into one another’s eyes, basking in the heady feeling of young love.

I remember the days of my early courtship with my hubby.
The primping, eyelash curling, hair crimping, sliding into my best pair of stonewashed jeans (it was the 80s so back off). My hubby wouldn’t dare come pick me up without slicking back his impressive mullet,wearing his Izod polo, and zipping up his custom-made leather jacket. Oh the days of young love! We both looked like a million bucks…by 1988’s standards.

Fast forward a few decades. Most days, I don’t look like a million bucks…I’d be lucky if it was five bucks. Sometimes I get super lazy, and I feel like wearing my “lucky” yoga pants (read: the ones without holes) and my “Blue Man Group” t-shirt is dressing up enough. It’s soft and doesn’t have any stains. Makeup and hair? Are you kidding? For what? So I can look like Lady Gaga while I fry chicken and scrub the toilet? It’s hard to feel romantic when the sink is backed up and I’m not sure where that smell is coming from.

If you’ve been married long enough to have kids, then you know what I’m talking about. We get so busy with school functions, football games, band concerts, teacher’s meetings…it’s hard to carve out that time to spend together. To dress up and be somebody pretty for a while, and to reconnect with the most important person in our lives. BUT WE HAVE TO.

It’s not that the fire has gone out, really…it’s just that whenever there is a romantic moment, one of the kids shows up with a fire extinguisher. As we in the South are fond of saying, “Bless their little hearts.” It’s difficult to give romance priority when the sink is full of dishes, we’re out of milk, the hamster escaped and the dog just pooped in the kitchen. Sometimes we don’t even realize we need to spend some grownup time together.

Here are 7 signs mom and dad need a date night pronto, yesterday, STAT!

1. The last time you sat next to one another that didn’t involve a TV was at the principal’s office at your kid’s school.

2. You’re unsure if you could pick your husband out of a lineup.

3. The last time you went to a movie together, Mel Gibson was the star.

4. There are dents in the sofa where your butts have been, even when vacant.

5. It’s been months since you’ve eaten anywhere that doesn’t require yelling into a glow-in-the-dark speaker.

6. The last time your husband gave you “the look” was when you grilled him a steak.

7. The last time you felt the old stirring was when your hubby took out the trash without being asked.

Take heart, dear parent. All will be well again. Get a sitter, and visit a restaurant that doesn’t serve french fries or fake food in yellow wrappers. See a movie that doesn’t star puppets, princesses or talking Legos. Want to get really wild? Have a glass of wine (or the adult beverage of your choice) and reconnect to this man who stole your heart and knew you pre-stretch marks. You both deserve it.

Oh, and talk about something other than runaway hamsters.

JOIN THE CONVERSATION: What’s your favorite date night destination?