I love guys’ night out! In fact, I love any time when my husband is off bonding with his friends. Any mention of guy time has me happily shooing my sweetie out the door. Now don’t get me wrong, I adore spending time with my hubby. However, I have learned over the course of the last 15 years that we need time apart, too. Not only that, we need time when we are fostering relationships with our friends. We are better individuals and a better functioning couple when we invest in quality time with the people in our circles.
Like I said earlier, learning to love guys’ night out was something that occurred over a period of time. I wasn’t always so eager to share my best friend with others. In our early years, like most couples, we just wanted to be together non-stop making googly eyes at each other. Once our kids popped into the picture, it was a different story. As a stay-at-home mom, some days caring for the kiddos were LONG. There were evenings when my husband would come home from work, and I’d gleefully plop a baby in his arms and scamper off to do something — anything! On a few occasions, after a particularly hard day I’d be anxiously awaiting backup (aka my hubby) only to find that he had made plans with his buddies. You can imagine the thoughts running through my head upon realizing backup was going to be delayed by several hours. The baby years were definitely the hardest times to support my husband’s extracurricular endeavors. But it was during these years that I really began to appreciate his need for friend time.
So how did I learn to love guys’ night out? How did I go from a wife who coveted her husband’s free time to a woman who welcomed the time away? Well, it took a lot of communication and boundary setting to come to some healthy compromises when it came to balancing family life, work life and friendships. Also, I realized there are some really awesome things that can come from a guys’ night out. I’ve compiled a list of my faves.
5 Bonuses to A Guys’ Night Out:
1. You get a girls’ night in. Picture this — you slip into your favorite yoga pants, grab a glass of wine, maybe some Cheetos, hunker down on the couch and the remote is all yours. Netflix marathon? Yes, please. Now picture this — everything from the first image but now add your best friend. Oh yeah!
2. Your significant other gets male bonding time. Sometimes guys just need other guys to do manly stuff with. The end.
3. Your guy’s new buddy may come with a bonus friend for you. When my husband’s best friend started dating his now wife, I think I fell in love with her first. Thanks to my husband’s friend, I now have one of my closest girl friends. Win!
4. Absence makes the heart grow fonder. When it comes to my marriage, we function better when we have healthy time apart from each other. My husband is my favorite person in the world, but it doesn’t mean I need or want to spend every waking second with him. Encouraging him to spend time with his guy friends is a great way to get some time apart, so that when we’re reunited it’s even sweeter.
5. You don’t need to sit through another movie with Jason Statham blowing things up and driving away from said explosion in a fancy sports car, which will later be blown up as well. Unless of course, you enjoy that sort of thing. No judgment here. However, if you are like me, you will happily allow your significant other to find another guy who will appreciate all the exploding of things on the big screen just as much as he will.
For these reasons and many more, I absolutely adore my husband’s bromances and adventures with his guy friends. If you are in the midst of a season of life that leaves you struggling to find the joy in guys’ night out, consider thinking about all the great benefits your husband receives from his time with friends. And don’t forget about the hidden benefits you may receive like the ones listed above!
