Britt Raborn

Dress c/0 | Shoes (similar pair that I own) | Watch | Florals |
Photos by Mary Margaret Smith

To some, Valentines Day is “overrated” or a “silly holiday” and look, I don’t disagree, in fact, I agree with those who think that way. BUT, when you are a parent and date nights are hard to come by, you better believe I’ll be making the most of it. Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, etc are all about our kids and our families. For once, I think this holiday is for US. Like, the world is giving couples a holiday and a reason to get dressed up and go out! Have you ever looked at it that way? I didn’t until I was brainstorming for this post. Joel works so much and I am always exhausted after a long day with the kids. We both are looking forward to Valentines day because we have a reason to go out and be semi fancy. You may be talking yourself out of even celebrating the holiday, but I wanted to give you a couple of reasons to call your babysitter and make a reservation somewhere for you and your spouse if you haven’t already! I have a feeling you won’t regret it!

1| You NEED A Break From The Kids
Let’s state the obvious first- every mom deserves a break from the kids and to have a special evening/night/weekend/etc AWAY from your children. Nap and bedtimes are nice, but are not enough. Plus, we are confined to our home homes. I never do things for myself when the kids are asleep anyway. My husband and I have made a budget each month to have a babysitter at least 2 times per month. When we went from 1 to 2 kids, date nights became much more necessary. We look forward to our date nights so much!

2| You Deserve A Reason To Dress Up!
Something I try to do on a daily basis is to actually get dressed in real clothes. Unless it is raining and cold outside, I try not to give myself any excuses. When I do this I actually feel like a human. I pass windows of cute boutiques and don’t get to go inside often because I have no time, have my kids with me, or don’t have anything to wear it to. THIS is the time to make no more excuses and to just pick out that pretty dress for Valentines Day and have fun with it! Heck, I am already showing you a pretty cute red scallop dress in this post that would be just perfect to wear 😉 Moms deserve to shine and feel good about themselves in a nice dress! TOBI has several beautiful red dresses to choose from right now!

3| Spend Time With Your Spouse
I was reminded by my favorite TV show (This Is Us) that parents can often feel like teammates as they go through parenting. Which is a really good thing, but things can’t always been a plateau. Couples need time together more than anything to feel that connection that they had in the very beginning and definitely before kids. With how much my husband works we are just on survival mode most week days. Until the weekend is here we really don’t get to kick back and relax. I want to add here, don’t feel bad if your spouse isn’t too into the actual holiday- mine isn’t either. I’ll probably be planning the whole thing, ha! At the end of the night it was a date and a reason to celebrate US.

4| Eat a Gourmet Meal
Truth: I prepare PB&J sandwiches 5-7x per week and my lunch contents includes the my kids sandwich crust, their leftovers, and maybe some crackers I’ve found in the pantry. Dinner is always…”what will everyone eat?? Spaghetti?? Okay, I’ll fix that and we will eat it 3x this week. Treat yourself to a meal YOU want to eat. And indulge in dessert too 😉

5| A Night Away Boosts Your Ego
I’ve gone over four reasons so far to go out for Valentines day because all of these things combined are refreshing for moms to do and when we are able to let loose it is good for everybody. When I are away from the kids for an evening or short weekend I literally come back giving them my all and more. It is such an amazing feeling to have the time to feel like the “ole me” again. Motherhood literally takes over your life and I have a hard time myself remembering who I am, but when I am able to go on dates with my husbands, go out with girlfriends, or drop my kids off at school for a few hours I am rejuvenated. I feel good about  myself and what I am doing when I get much needed breaks. All moms need to feel this way 🙂

Now, hopefully I’ve convinced y’all and at least have given it some thought! And, if getting a childcare is hard (been there done that- I know it can be difficult) then definitely give the idea of an at home date night and cook something delicious together after the kids go to bed. Last year when Sully was 3 months old and we couldn’t leave him with a sitter, we put the kids down for bed early, got dressed up (casual cute), and made marinated pork tenderloin! It was such a fun time that I won’t ever forget.

xoxo friends

Photos by Mary Margaret Smith