Mom-and-Me dates

If you have kids and you don't "Date" them yet, you need to.  It's a game-changer in parenting.  It is the one time every so often where you get a chance to focus 100% on just that kid and, in turn, help them experience your love and attention rather than just hear you say that all-too-common words, "I love you."

Before I had kids, I remember a friend telling me how she and her husband "date" their kids.  I probably commented with a "oh, that's so neat", or a "Wow!  What a great idea", but I know I was thinking more along the lines of "weird".

Then I had kids. 

Going on a "date" with your kid sounds a little weird or like it could be a big production.  It doesn't have to be.  In fact, for our family, it most often is just an add-on to a grocery trip or a stop at the ice cream store while we're waiting for another child to finish basketball practice.  Sometimes, the smaller, spontaneous dates are the best!

Some of our "dates" have looked like this:

Mom + Daughter Running Date:  I recently did an "Item of the Week" post about the Runkeeper App.  My daughter noticed how obsessed I had become with the App and started customizing a workout for her and I to do.  It was a lot of fun choosing distances and paces for each interval and then creating a Spotify playlist to help keep us motivated.  Now we create running workouts together and spend 15-30 minutes out on a run.  Added Bonus?  We compete on who has the most steps with our pedometers.  It's a great way to connect alone with her...even if we are just laughing through the intervals and playlists we've chosen.

• Mom + Boys Night Out:  Every Tuesday my daughter had basketball practice downtown.  My husband also led a high school boys small group that night, which left me 2 hours of alone time with my boys.  My boys are 8 years apart, so finding something they both enjoy doing is not so easy.  They do, however both LOVE the library...which happens to be two blocks from the school where my daughter practiced.  And just around the corner from the library is our favorite burger restaurant, The Burger Shack, and just around the corner from THAT is the Sweetlands Candy shop.  It was almost too easy!  These Tuesday date nights with my boys were so fun that we've actually turned it into a Tuesday night Family Date Night tradition.

• Mom + Daughter Grocery Date:  I hate grocery shopping.  No, really.  I LOATHE grocery shopping.  The endless rows of parking, the finagling around indecisive shoppers, the waiting in line while the trainee cashier fumbles with a coupon.  I sound like a horrible person, I know.  I kind of am.  Anyway, I was bemoaning my impending grocery shopping trip over lunch one Saturday and my daughter sweetly piped in with an "I'll go with you mom."  Melt. My. Heart.  There are very few things I love more than a child who is willing to go grocery shopping...and with a happy heart too!  From that point on, she has become my little grocery buddy.  I'll admit I sweeten the deal with a checkout lane pack of gum or a cute pair of clearance shoes, but mostly, we just have fun seeing how fast we can check the items off our list and catching up on school gossip from the prior week.  

These add-on dates are easy, but once a month or so my husband and I will plan bigger, more intentional events with our kids.  Movies are a big hit with my eldest.  Head out to a burger place afterwards and you get a chance to talk about anything from the movie to the bully at school.  My daughter loves to either go clothes shopping or get a little dressed up and go out to dinner (my kind of girl!).  My youngest son is all about sports and Go-Karts.  A simple trip up to the park with an ice cream shop added onto the end and he's happy as a clam.

The most rewarding part of each date, aside from the memories you inevitably build, are the conversations you have that can't happen when other family members are around.  We've learned about some pretty serious stuff that we would never have known if not for that little jaunt to the grocery store or that stop at the comic book store on the way home from Lowes.  Our kids love to have our undivided attention and the reward of getting a glimpse into their lives is the cherry on top.

Your turn:  Where are you taking your kid tonight?