Date night is really really really important. Why, you ask?  You make come up with the excuses, that you have been together a long time and that it’s not that important. Or that you spend a lot of time together anyway and it’s not needed. I beg to differ. I believe that it is really important. I believe that spending time with your loved one is something that you need to take seriously.  It was amazing when you were dating and went out places and did new things together. You probably felt excited and got butterflies in your stomach. I know I did and still do. But as the years go on it is really hard to spend quality time with your love one.  Your life changes drastically as you take on more responsibilities and move through life together. It could be that your spouse lost their job. Or they are having a lot of pressure put on them at work. Or a million of other things that life throws at you.  It could be that there are a lot of obligations that you still need to fulfill and it takes up a lot of your time.  With all the things that life throws at us, knowing that you have your spouse in the corner cheering you on is something that can get you through your day. The importance of a date night is the time that you are saying to the world that you are ONLY going to focus on your spouse. It is too easy to say that you are spending time together by watching TV. I do believe that spending time together is important. But it should be an event. It can be something as simple as renting a new Redbox movie and making popcorn. Or it can be extravagant as trying out a new hobby. But it needs to be time together that you are focusing on each other and not the world around you. It also helps you continue to grow together. There is a reason why magazines are always suggesting that you try new things with your spouse. It can be really fun! One of the newest things Ben and I have tried is going Skeet Shooting.  (It is when you are shooting a disk out of the air to mimic shooting a flying bird.)  We have liked going to the gun range before. But this was a totally new experience for the both of us and it was SOOO much fun.  It was a way for the both of us to get away from our electronics and just have fun. That date set the tone for the rest of the day. This helped us to have a really good day and tell everyone we saw that we both did good and had a blast.  We had so much fun that we did it again. This excitement of trying new things helps create another bond between the two of you. This is important. I like to think of the relationship that each couple has as a web. You want a kick ass web, that can hold an elephant, because, trust me, life will throw them at you.  Just like with anything else in life this web will get fragile and cannot support a lot of things (life and its stressors) if it is not maintained, which can be done a bunch of ways. But it also needs to be reinforced and continuously experiencing new things will do that. It will help build another line and help reinforce the strength of the web and your relationship throughout the years to come.