Remember when you used to feel little butterflies in your stomach before a big date? Those feelings don't have to remain a distant memory just because you're married with children. Here are seven reasons why iVillagers think moms need to make date night a priority, plus 9 ideas for making it extra special.

7 Reasons to Make Date Night a Priority

My husband sometimes kids me about being a "cheap date" because I'm fine with a 99-cent Coke and a foot rub, but that's because my priority is not some wildly romantic time, but just some quiet time alone with him. I think sometimes that's where things go astray -- when one party expects a date to always be wine and roses when sometimes it's a Dunkaccino and watching the sunset from the mall parking lot. I wake up with a happy feeling on "date night" mornings, knowing I'll get to spend time alone with my husband that evening. And when I think of it during the day, I get that happy feeling all over again ... --iVillager Deb

If we don't schedule the time to talk about things other than the kids, we find ourselves doing what my husband calls "relay parenting" -- where one parent comes home to hand off the baton to the other. I also think it's hard for the parents of small children to realize that part of their job is to model what a good spousal relationship looks like and to show their kids that their marriage is important enough to invest some time and creativity. At some point, my kids will be grown and off to college, and I'd still like to have romance and flirtation with my husband. --iVillager Barb

Yes, dating our husbands can be difficult to work into our busy schedules with children. For us "dating" helps to make our relationship a priority -- even if it means watching a favorite show in bed together sharing cups of tea while our one-year-old snores sweetly in his bed across the room! --iVillager Melissa

Having it already penciled in on the schedule makes it that much more likely to happen than if it is the last thing on the schedule "if we have time." We have a "regular" sitter who lives nearby (the teenage daughter of a friend) and has a relatively flexible schedule so we can change our "usual" night to something else if need be on occasion. We budget the time and money for our date -- including money for the sitter and what we do from there depends on the rest of our expenses. --iVillager Deb

We exchange babysitting with friends of ours so that we each get one date night per month. Once a month I go to their house and watch the kids so that when she and her husband get home, the kids are tucked into bed. Then they come to my house and do the same the next month. It works out so well, and we all know we get alone-time at least once a month! --iVillager Emily

Thanks to grandparents, we managed a date night at least once a month after our first child was born -- usually on the weekend. We'd take two cars to Grandma's, leave the baby and van there, then take off in my husband's sports car. We'd giggle and laugh and felt like we were dating again! Now, with three children, I use both sets of grandparents -- our children get a "special night" to bond with Grandma and Grandpa while my husband and I get a date. --iVillager Melissa