Date Night

How important is date night in your family? Wait, stop, step back a second. Wrong question. How important is date night with Mom or Dad in your family? Not sure what I'm talking about? Let me explain.
In our home, we find that the children thrive on alone time with just Mom or Dad. We make it a priority to have one on one time with each of the children each month. For instance, Sofia and Mommy went to Disney on Ice for our February date. We took the boys to Winter Jam in January. Wade takes the boys to hockey games and basketball games and football games. Getting the point?
We decided after Owen was born that it was very important to spend time with the children individually to show them our time with them is special. Since I get to see Sofia more often than the boys, it's nice to let Sofia have her special time with Daddy, but we aren't particular about it.
I wanted to devote this post to cost effective ways to have Parent Date nights for your children.

*Picnic with Pops. Time to get a lunch together (or dinner) for Daddy to take someone to the park. Doesn't matter which child as this is something that can be for any of the kids.

*Mealtime with Momma. I love to cook with my children. I'm not the best cook, but I really enjoy the personal time I get with the children when we spend time together in the kitchen. What I try to do is plan a meal that someone can help me with and while Dad keeps the other two occupied without getting tied up we do our magic in the kitchen. It can be a lot of fun that you can turn into a science, math, English (any kind of educational) lesson.

*Sporting Events. We do these quite frequently. Find out the local high school's schedule and go watch a game together. These events tend to be low cost and a ton of fun.

*Matinee Movie Day. These are cheaper when you go in the afternoon, but a wonderful activity to do on a weekend when the littlest one is napping :-)

*Take someone for a walk or a bike ride. Do you have a toddler? Oh my, those are some of my favorite memories-- walking with a little one who has no sense of direction. Let your toddler decide which direction you go. So much fun to look at the world through the eyes of a youngun.

*Zoo. If you have a zoo pass and a zoo close by ;-), this is a cost effective thing to do. Nice for exercise around the zoo and nice to spend quality time together.

*Miniature Golf. This is always a great family activity as well as a great date event.

*Tea Party. This is a fun time with our princess. Empty out the house and let her host you in a special tea party.

*Reading time. Quiet time with a child at the library just reading can be a lot of fun.

*Go to the local coffee shop for hot chocolate. This is fun, especially with our local place that we love. They have musicians on Friday and Saturday nights that really give a special dimension to date night. :-)

There are numerous other things that you can do with your children. See what kinds of things they want to do and go from there. :-) Enjoy your special date nights!