Tater tots + sparkly gowns + gummy worms = the perfect date.
Just ask Pazely.
She recently had a daddy/mommy/Pazely date. The first stop was to the mall. Pazely's been talking on & on for the last 2 weeks about some mylar helium balloon animals she saw near the food court. We splurged $6 & bought her a dog. (Finally! A pet that daddy approves of!) She walked that fake pooch around as if it were real. Seriously, this was the highlight of her date. If the date had ended right there, that girl would not have been the least bit disappointed.
The REAL reason we went to the mall was to try on fancy dresses. Just for fun. And while Pazely & I hopped around the department stores, daddy mysteriously disappeared. Which was rather inconvenient when we got locked in the dressing room stall. I admit, I panicked. But Pazely looked around & calmly replied, "Well, at least we have water & clothes..." (She had brought along a water bottle.) "...and a chair," she added, as she turned to sit down on the dressing room bench. We eventually got the door unstuck & embraced our freedom by heading over to Bath & Body Works to try on lip glosses & hand sanitizers. (Hand sanitizers? I know, so weird. She wanted to. Whatevs.)
We finally found daddy & he treated us all to dinner at Sonic. Van doors wide open, we sat in the shade, eating our tater tots & grilled chicken sammies.
Next stop? The recycling dumpsters! Woohoo! (Ok, we snuck a chore in there.)
The night ended with a visit to a yogurt shop, where Pazely piled more candy than yogurt into that little cup of hers.
Sure, taking your kids out for special one-on-one time is nothing new. The Mr. & I always have good intentions to make it a habit, but it ends up being a scattered outing here & there with, sadly, not a lot of priority involved. Life gets busy. Things get in the way.
BUT, to establish a monthly date night with our kids as a regular part of our routine, I found this awesome idea in Family Fun magazine. (I think that's where I read it.)
Take your kids out, once a month, on the date of their birthday!!
Zoey's birthday is September 14th. So, on the 14th of every month, she can anticipate her very own date.
Last month was our first go. The girls had so much fun!
The thing I love about dates with my kids is that I can customize the date according to the likes of my kids. Zoey wouldn't have particularly liked dressing up. So HER date was spent wandering the garden department of a local store. She picked out pots & flowers & then we had some late-night fun potting them in the backyard. That girl loves growing things & taking care of plants. The pots look splendid on the steps of the new rental we just moved into!
We tried on silly hats, made silly faces, laughed at our silly selves.
We, too, had yogurt.
She felt on top of the world having mom & dad all to herself.
And I find myself anticipating the time I get to spend with them too.
♥
Great and fun read.
ReplyDelete