Last weekend, I wanted to plan a quarantine-friendly date night. Just as fun and romantic as an evening at my favorite restaurant or bar, just without leaving the house. How hard could it be to recreate that sexy and relaxing date-night vibe at home?
As it turns out, even more difficult than I imagined.
Breaking out of the monotony turned out to be tougher than I thought.
I tend to be great at compartmentalizing when I can physically move to a new place. It’s the reason that I tend to be able to easily forget work troubles when leaving the office, and why going out for a jog is usually a pretty effective way to get myself out of a funk.
I used to use this to my advantage when it came to date night. The me that puts on a nice silky dress and pretty shoes is not quite the same me that was furiously vacuuming to the sound of Led Zeppelin a few hours previously.
The cartoon “The Mental Load” by French artist Emma perfectly explains the invisible work of household chores, and demonstrates how simply spending time at home can lead to a seemingly never-ending chain of discovering jobs that need to be done. Typically, this falls to women more than to men.
In lockdown, there are fewer ways to relax without doing emotional and logistical labor.
Going out to dinner is about so much more than eating food cooked by somebody else. It’s about being able to leave the do-to list pinned to the fridge and get the hell out the house. I love my home, but it is nice to leave the domestic tasks out of sight and out of mind for a while.
Planning stay-home dates has made me realize how tiring planning — and subsequently having — a great time can be. I long to be able to get to a bar and see a menu to help me decide what I want to drink, instead of having to second-guess my mood by stocking up at everything at the liquor store the day before.
Quarantine has made me realize how critical it is that we don’t take the people who help us to have great nights out for granted. When it’s safe to do so, I’m excited to get back to some bars, breweries and restaurants to enjoy a socially-distanced evening out — before leaving a generous tip for the awesome servers and chefs who helped me to get away from it all for a while.
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This post was previously published on Hello, Love and is republished here with permission from the author.
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Photo credit: Unsplash
