Date Night With My Kid
Had an opportunity to take my middle child out for a “date” last month. He struggles not to want to do everything his older sister does and Knick was taking her to a girl’s basketball game. It took him most of the trip to get over his feelings that he might be missing out. He is only 18 months younger than Kniya and acts as if they are twins. Growing up, my parents didn’t spend a lot of one-on-one time with us — we did a lot more group activities. I’m an introvert, though, and I like to connect person-to-person. I know it’s hard to find the right times to do things with each kid separately, but as they get older I think this will be an important part of having a strong relationship with them.
Planning a Date Night With Your Kid
You don’t necessarily have to leave the house, but it does help nix the distractions that other people inevitably cause. A special time out should include things that that kid likes, but it doesn’t have to completely revolve around them. You really don’t even have to spend money, since a special event with your kid could include:
- Board games
- An informal picnic
- A park date
- A walk
- Making smoothies, cookies or something else in the kitchen
- Practicing a sport or special skill with them
On the date we did in November, we got “coffee” (lukewarm hot chocolate) from Starbucks and ran some errands. He got to pick out a small Christmas snow globe while we were at the store with a little truck carrying a tree inside. He loves that thing and his sister might be a little jealous she does have her own (which probably makes him treasure it more). He calls it his snowball or shaker bulb, so it usually takes us a while to figure out what he’s asking for. When trying to describe it to Knick the other day, he said, “Can I have my shaker bulb? You know that thing…it looks like love?”
Yes baby, all the love.
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