The Standing Date
Mark & Jen's Tuesday Date Night Journal
Every Tuesday, from six to ten, the same sitter walks in the door and we walk out of it. No carpool line, no permission slips, no negotiating who's on bath duty — just the two of us, for four hours, doing whatever we feel like doing. With five kids under thirteen, it's easy to let 'us' quietly disappear into the schedule. This is how we don't let that happen.
How It Works
A priority since we got married in 2009 — we've changed sitters over the years, but the standing Tuesday has stayed
Planning alternates: one week Mark plans, the next week Jen does
The one rule: never repeat a restaurant
Home base is Volente, but the map stretches to Georgetown, Lakeway, Cedar Park, and Austin — once, all the way out to Dripping Springs for something worth the drive
Why We Do It
With five kids in the house, it's easy to let a marriage run on whatever time is left over. This is our answer to that — four hours a week that belong only to us, to talk through whatever the week didn't leave room for, kids included.
Also on the Docket: Movie Nights
Movies are their own tradition inside the tradition — almost always dinner and a movie together at the Moviehouse or Alamo Drafthouse. Same rule as the restaurants: we never see the same movie twice.
The Journal
Follow along here for ideas, honest takes, and everywhere the Tuesday map has taken us so far.
New weeks get added here as we go — check back for the next one.