A recipe for at-home date nights

When I had the chance to make a video telling parents how to make “date night” happen at home, without paying for a babysitter, here’s what I said:

Since then, I discovered a couple of other cool resources that may inspire you, especially if you’re not ready to leave your baby with a sitter; or if you cannot afford a sitter unless the place you’re going is paying you to be there, ie Work.

Confetti Dates are date nights in a box. You order one online, receive a package in the mail, and open it together to kick off your date. They sell “full options” for $50-$70 and “just dessert” for $25. Expect some treats and activities bundled in a theme, such as Wine Country. The Napa Date, for example, includes two bottles of wine, some gourmet dessert items and a candle-making activity. These packages don’t include dinner, so they’re ideal for a post-kid bedtime activity. Subscriptions are available for those who want to be committed to one at-home date night per month. Looks like fun to me. (Update: Confetti Dates offers 20% off to Rookie Moms readers. Use code: confettimom)

Blue Apron is on the other end of the spectrum, meaning that if you’re hungry for actual protein and vegetables, this is the activity for you. Check out their menu and then order what you like. They deliver every bit of food you need to cook the meal, down to spices and seasonings in pre-measured tiny containers. The fresh food arrives with a full color instruction manual leading you step-by-step towards your dinner. If you can wait to cook as a team and eat as a couple after your baby has gone to bed, this is for you. The meals are about $10 per person, but you’ve got to order three for the week. Blue Apron delivers to about half the U.S. states as of this writing.

The Dating Divas, one of those really girly blogs on which the fonts are so fancy it’s a bit hard to read, is dedicated to providing fun date ideas for couples in more flavors than you can imagine. They have a whole category of at-home date ideas, and a bunch of printables, like this one that invite each partner to quiz the other one on their personal trivia. The site offers companion activities to certain TV shows like Dancing with the Stars and themed dinner ideas to go along with at least two different Reese Witherspoon movies, which gave me the idea that if your partner hates your TV shows, you could at least turn watching them into a drinking game for him.

Related: Whitney uses HowAboutWe.com to experience an out-of-the-house date night