13 Signs You Really Need A Date Night

Raising small kids is hard work—the days start early and end late and are filled to the brim with a million tedious chores. And for a lot of us, money’s tight, so the luxury of an evening out can fall to the bottom of the list. But look, every parent deserves a restaurant meal and uninterrupted conversation once in a while, and sometimes that need becomes rather urgent. Below, 13 signs you really need a date night.

1. Your husband walks in the door, and you’re like, “Who’s that guy?”

2. You have exactly two topics of conversation with that guy: 1) who threw up and 2) what broke and how much it’s going to cost to fix it.

3. Your Netflix “suggested for you” queue is empty, because you’ve seen everything.

4. The dressiest you’ve gotten lately is wiping the avocado off your yoga pants before it hardens.

5. At 9 p.m. one evening you step outside with the trash and you see a couple coming home from a date, and you think, What is this, Vegas?

6. You have a fantasy that plays in your mind like a GIF of someone setting a plate of food in front of you, and then, when you’ve eaten as much as you want, uninterrupted, the arm whisks it away.

7. Someone asks what new movies are out, and you say, “I really liked Jodie Foster in Contact.”

8. Your husband mentions his work, and you have to think for a minute to remember what he does for a living.

9. You develop this brilliant business idea of someone who will come over and give other people’s kids a bath and put them to bed, and you suddenly realize that business already exists and it’s called babysitters.

10. You’d love to have an adult conversation about this very exciting presidential race. I mean, does Romney/Ryan really stand a chance?!

11. Your colleague asks if you have plans for the weekend and an hour later says, “Wow, that’s a lot of stuff that needs to be fixed.”

12. The most fulfilling adult conversations you’ve had lately are with Facebook quizzes.

13. You put in a call to your most recent babysitter, a very sweet high school student, and find out she’s just finishing up with her dissertation.

I don’t know about you, but I’ve experienced pretty much all of these lately, which means it’s time to find a restaurant fancier than Boston Market and make a reservation. Get on the phone with the sitter and bite the bullet. After all, you married….uh, that guy…for a reason.