• Arrange to trade dining rooms with another couple so it feels like you’re someplace out to eat. This is also a reasonable way to get someone out who maybe needs a scenery change, but where going out in public, due to various medical, emotional or other considerations, may be of issue. Connect with other couples in similar situations. Let the other couple set the mood for your dinner by setting your table, and you do the same for them. You can do your own cooking there, or bring carry-out. Or perhaps what you want is just some quiet personal talk time, and all you bring is dessert. It’s a fun and cheaper way to carry off a time-out rather than in your own place. Everybody does their own dishes and leaves a thank you note with two or three romantic tips as the TIP.

     

    • Spend some time together on a site called GoodReads.com carries thousands of quotes based on dozens of topics for the two of you to cuddle up and travel your way through. From humor to encouragement to thought provoking. Some will make you want to hold hands just that much tighter.

     

    • Use your date night to do some interior design focused on decorating the ceiling. Realistically, many of us spend hours looking up at it.Think of it as a blank canvas, and let your imagination move from there. Utilize things like balloons, T-shirts with images of favorite bands, action figures, cartoons, maps, recipes, words of encouragement, you name it— anything that holds their imagination, it can go on the ceiling! Put your artwork, or their artwork, up. Make it a weekly date night event to draw or color something, randomly drawing a topic from a hat. Maybe you’ll want to save a corner specifically for changing themes around holidays. You may not be an artist extraordinaire, but WHO CARES?

     

    • Challenge your other half to a rousing game of ping-pong or badminton using balloons rather than the standard balls. Don’t have the paddles? Using paper or plastic plates works just as well. No balloons? Blow up some medical gloves, or blow up some Ziploc bags.

     

    • Write music together where the song revolves around a mundane daily event, where conversation is a part. Add some levity to what becomes routine. Each of you will take the role of one person in those conversations. Remember, each of you must sing rather than speak those parts. You don’t have to make up a tune, just use one you already are familiar with. Try Star Wars Darth Vader’s March, the traditional Happy Birthday tune, Who Let The Dogs Out,or a favorite jingle from a commercial. If you aren’t singers, just alter your voices, as if you were portraying a cartoon or movie character, a sportscaster, etc. Once you’ve sang a few of these, you’ll carry a small internal smile inside next time those scenes actually rolls around again. Here’s a few topic ideas to try this one out on:

    Scheduling new Dr. and therapy appointments

    Requesting a payment plan

    Who will do what chores this week?

    Discussing new med changes

    Dealing with durable medical goods reps or insurance for equipment upgrades

    Fill out an information sheet prior to the next clinic, having one ask the questions while the other replies

    Discussing a topic between you and your in-laws that has become almost comical

    Pretend you’re interviewing a new in-home care assistant

    Sing about the best moment you never hadbeing physically intimate because you were so exhausted

    Create a shopping list for the next time you have to go to the grocery or home improvement store.

     

    • Two words: Kazoo Karaoke(* Extra points if it’s a Nose Kazoo!)

     

    • This will take some forethought, but it’s a fun way to spend some time. Order several temporary tattoos off AmazonTMorhunt some down at a craft or dollar store near you.There’s no limit to all the designs you can find. And they’re not major budget breakers. The goal is to create what is known as a sleeve. Something that covers the recipient from wrist to shoulder, or at least the elbow. Add several together to form a crazy picture, or a seriously cool one that you think represents the one that gets decorated. Want to add a twist into it? Agree on boundaries to what is being placed ahead of time, but don’t let the person being decorated see what’s being put on until after the final reveal. Then play “Picture Find,” by providing them a list, and see how fast they can locate what where those items are found on their arm.

     

    • Host a Comic Con themed potluck. Everyone has to either dress in character, or show up with their favorite character’s picture or toy action figure. Make it as easy or as involved as seems doable. Each person has to create and bring a food dish that they think somehow ties in with their character. Being able to explain why it does,well that’s half the fun of this date.

     

    • IMAX!The Imax theater often offers a nice blend of action or serene showings, so choose according to your day's mood and needs! [Note: For those with anxiety about heights, vertigo, dizziness, etc... these theaters are often steep and can sometimes cause trouble for people with their visual/surround/realistic stimulation, bear those aspects in mind.]