Not Your Average Game Night

It’s that time of the month again, and no, I’m not talking about a menstrual cycle. I’m talking about Night In Boxes!

I opted for date night after doing two of their kid’s nights, which you can read Day at the Farm or Finance Club if you’re interested. I haven’t had a date night since our very first box, the Blind Date. It’s been a while!

This post includes affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. Night In Boxes provided with this box in exchange for an honest review.

Can I just say that the best part about getting a Date Night In Box is that it forces me to make the time to “go” on a date? I know that’s kind of sad, but it’s the truth. I never thought dating the man of my dreams would be so hard after having my son! But with Date Night In, I never have to wonder how to keep things fresh, their date night ideas are always creative!

Related: The Anxious Mom’s Guide to Going Out

I would strongly encourage you to order Date Night In for a few recurring months (although you can totally just order one to see how you like it), simply because when you get that box in the mail, it’s a perfect reminder to make time for your partner. It’s hard to find a sitter, figure out a good time, and find a decent movie. There are so many excuses that can get in the way. Not with this nifty box!

This month’s theme was Minute To Win It! I was pretty intrigued, as I always am. I can’t help it, the themes for their boxes are always fresh ideas!

Whereas the Blind Date went a bit deep, making you think a lot about the strengths and weaknesses of your marriage, this month’s box was all about light-hearted fun.

What is Included for Date Night?

Let’s dive right into the goodies! As usual, the box is stuffed full of all that you need to complete the games.

2 sets of streamers

2 cookies (yay)

1 bag of jelly beans

6 cups

1 ball

1 pair of pantyhose!

2 pencils

2 “game markers” which are just plastic pieces

1 roll of string

4 straws

Whew! I think I got everything!

 

This month’s instruction booklet doubles as your scorecard, too.

What’s on the Menu?

You guys. This is the first month that I had my act together enough to make the menu!

I completely cheated, but I’ll explain. One of the best parts of Night in Boxes is that you can make it your own.

Related: 12 Things I Learned from my Son’s First 12 Months

When you receive your shipping information, they give you instructions on how to access the suggested menu. Obviously, you don’t have to do it, but it’s always nice to have some meal ideas.

Each month, Marina, the lovely mommy over at Marina Makes creates a menu for us. She always ties it in with that month’s theme, so this month it was game night food! This month we had:

• Homemade Burgers
• Sweet Potato Fries
• Homemade 7 Layer Dip
• Strawberry Limeade Drinks

For the drinks, she had a recipe for a spiked and a virgin version. As I’m sober, this was very appreciated. Although, they’re exactly the same, just sans the shots of vodka.

I made it my own a little by freezing the limeade in an ice cube tray beforehand. The original recipe was just pureed strawberries and limeade. But I decided to try for more of a slush.

It turned out pretty great!

She also had a recipe for homemade burgers and homemade veggie burgers. That made my vegetarian heart very happy.

But, because I’ve been very busy, I bought frozen burgers! Look, I want to be as transparent as possible here. I don’t have my shit together. I couldn’t handle making the burgers (although I did save the recipe, so maybe one day). But that’s okay!

Like I said, it’s so easy to customize your Date Night In experience.

Funny story, I bought sweet potatoes with every intention of following the recipe. I love sweet potato fries. I told my husband about this and his first question was, “Why didn’t you just get frozen ones?”. He knows me too well.

Drinks tweaked, burger and fries frozen, and dip completely skipped. We still had a fabulous meal (and I got to spend minimal time in the kitchen).

Game Night

I already love games. Before my son was born, my husband and I enjoyed a lot of game nights. Some of our favorites are Stratego (he kicks my butt), Killer Bunnies (I kick his butt), Clue (I’d say we’re about even here), Life, and Blokus.

Honestly, I could go on, but maybe that’s a topic for another post!

Tonight’s games were out there. If you and your partner aren’t comfortable being a bit uncomfortable, then this might not be for you. But personally, that’s why I like it. It forces you to be a bit silly and do things a bit differently. There is definitely no Monopoly here!

Each game is a race against the clock. We had to complete them in a minute!

They gave us quite a few games, but I’m going to just go over my favorites. Actually, they also had more games for us on their website.

Face the Cookie

This one is only my favorite because, at the end, we got to eat a cookie. And who doesn’t like cookies?

For this one, you put a cookie (included in your box) on your forehead. Without using your hands, you’ve got to get it into (or on) your mouth.

Like I said, silly.

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I’ve always been a lover of silly. So, with lots of wiggles and bouncing… My cookie fell on the ground. And my husband didn’t get it to his mouth, either!

You could also just time yourselves and the winner is whoever does it faster. But when my cookie fell, that was game over for me!

Hide and Seek

No, not the regular hide and seek. In fact, you’re not really hiding anything.

You put one game marker into each foot of the pantyhose. Then, you have to try to get your hands down each leg, basically using sheer willpower.

This was so ridiculous, which is why I loved it. Maybe I just love pantyhose, because my next favorite had to be…

Elephant March

This time, you put the ball into the foot of the pantyhose. Then, you put the pantyhose on your head. 😂 Yes, really.

That’s your elephant trunk! You’re so very welcome for this super attractive and flattering photo of me, as well!

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Then your partner sets up the little cups in two lines and you have to knock them over with your trunk.

Honestly, when I read the instructions, it sounded pretty easy. But, seriously, go try it! Especially knocking six over in under a minute! It’s harder than it sounds.

I’m totally going to keep this game in mind, I think it would be so fun for kids! You could definitely try this one at home. Grab some cups, a clean pair of pantyhose, and a ball!

The Final Takeaway

Date Night In is always a blast! I love that I don’t have to go anywhere. I’m such a homebody that this is a dream come true.

I love Date Night In (and Kid’s Night In) because I don’t have to think of anything! After 6 years of marriage, sometimes it’s hard to come up with things we’ve never done before. Date night ideas are just hard for me to come up with consistently.

Thankfully, Night In Boxes is here to help. I can’t recommend them enough, you guys. They are such an awesome company! Go check them out and be sure to sign up so you can grab next month’s box!