Hot on HuffPost Parents:
Lisa Belkin: The Tornado In Oklahoma Is This Parent's Living Nightmare
Jenn Horton: Every Mom Deserves Your Nod
Date Night In: Fun Ways to Include the Kids
Filed under: Activities: Babies, Activities: Toddlers & Preschoolers, Activities: Big Kids, Activities: Family Time
Spend time with the kids on your date night in. Credit: Getty Images
"It's so important to have date night because when you have children you can build your whole identity around them," Lindsey Rietzsch, the Utah-based author of "How to Date Your Spouse," says in a phone interview with ParentDish. "You're still a couple and not just a family. You need to model a healthy relationship for your children and grow as a couple."
She recommends including the kids in the date night and creating specific themes:
- Box Car Drive-In Date: Have the kids decorate cardboard boxes to look like cars, while you find a larger box that you and your spouse can sit in together. After the boxes are decorated, "drive" them into the TV room and park, drive-in movie-style, with Mom and Dad's car in the back. Serve finger food, turn on the movie and cuddle while kids watch the movie in their own cars.
- Snow Blast: This a winter date where the kids help build a snow fort in the yard -- or a cozy blanket fort inside. Serve dinner and hot chocolate in the fort, tell ghost stories and pay attention to one another in the cozy confines. Later, roast marshmallows by a fire pit or indoor fireplace. The kids will fall asleep early from sheer exhaustion, leaving time for parents to relax by the fire.
- Family Restaurant Date: Your kids can set up a "restaurant" with menus they create with crayons and paper listing items they can prepare. Keep it simple: anything from peanut butter and jelly to microwave burritos, Rietzsch says. You and your spouse should get dressed up as though you were going out to dinner. Let the kids take your order, serve you and clean up when you're done.
- Let Fate Plan Your Date: For this one, each family member should write a couple of suggestions on pieces of paper for three different categories: a place in the house, main dishes and desserts and finally games. Put all suggestions in separate jars and pick one from each. Date night could mean eating lasagna and ice cream for dinner in the attic while playing Chutes and Ladders.
- Dance Club Date: Transform your family room into a dance club with your favorite music. Kids love to dance -- and the activity wears them out. Set up a "bar" to make smoothies or chocolate shakes, and be sure to record the event on video. After the kids go to sleep, you can slow dance the rest of the night away.
Your<span>Voice</span>
Ask Us Anything About Parenting
Recently Asked
- Alot of .gov when submitting a program or proposal for government agency (be sure you personally can provide for the agency)
- My daughter (14 yrs) was just kicked out of her Girl Scout Cadettes troop. Her offense? Having ADD (not hyperactive) and she wasn't picking up on a tr...
- What's the penalty for falsley claiming relation to a person does it have to be for monetary gain or proven not just a social gesture
TheTalkies:RelatedVideos
-
Summer Activities Ideas for Kids
Extra Fun Summer Activities for Kids by Beth Wise - Introduction.
-
Playing Leap Frog for Kids
Fun Summer Activities for Kids by Beth Wise - How to Play Leap Frog for Kids
-
Making Giant Bubbles for Kids
Fun Summer Activities for Kids by Beth Wise - How to Make Giant Bubbles for Kids
-
Planning Activities for a Kids' Birthday Party
Find out which activities and games you can do with children during a birthday party.
SitesWeLove
- Site Map
- |
- Staff
- |
- Terms of Service
- |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Trademarks
- |
- Advertise With Us
- |
- About Our Ads
- |
- AOL Downloads
- |
- Contact Us
- |
© Copyright 2012 AOL Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Aol Family
ReaderComments (Page 1 of 1)
1-03-2011 @ 8:46PM
mike said...and what happened to just putting them in their beds and telling them/like a parent/ stay in bed dont get up,, what a bunch of i wanna be my kids best buddy, pussies todays parents have become it's funny and pathetic
Reply
1-04-2011 @ 10:50AM
Anna Feldman said...We've made "forts" with the couch cushions and blankets. It makes a great little cove to watch movies in. :)
A date-night-in is a great way to save money and enjoy just being home together, whether you have kids or not. There are some free things on Http://bit.ly/FreebieHomepage that you could use for your fun night in.
There are a lot more simple money saving tips on the site too. What I appreciated was they weren't the usual "get rich" ideas, but simple stuff to save in the ways we don't even realize we're wasting.
1-03-2011 @ 8:54PM
L.Borja said...Oh, get real. If it included the kids it's not a date. It's just another night with the family.
Reply
1-03-2011 @ 11:06PM
Jennifer said...A-M-E-N! When I want a date night, it means a date sans the kids! I often wonder if these idiotic writers have kids and, if they do, who actually raises them. When my husband and I want a date night, aka adult night out, the kids are promptly put with a relative and away we go. Also, if I need an evening at home, along with my husband? The kids go to bed without ceremony. It's time for bed, period. No wonder kids feel like they are the center of the universe 24/7. There is a time and a place for everything, and I didn't have kids to replace my husband and that relationship.
1-03-2011 @ 9:20PM
Terri said...I agree with the other comments. These activities may be fun for the kids, but it sounds like a big headache for the parents to make all the arrangements. Put the kids to bed early or find a babysitter. Parents deserve time for themselves, and kids need to know the entire world does not revolve around them.
Reply
1-03-2011 @ 9:42PM
Kevin Brown said...What a stupid article. I agree with all those that say put the kids to bed and spend the time with your spouse. When I was growing up my parents were not my personal entertainment committee because I was taught that they were adults and I was a child. They loved me but I wasn't the center of the freakin' universe (like kids today think they are.)
Reply
1-03-2011 @ 11:08PM
doug said...No wonder the parents of today are stuck with their brood 24/7. There are no adults today just domestic staff catering to juniors every whim. Wimps.
Reply
1-03-2011 @ 11:50PM
Alicia said...So if these are now dates, when do parents get to be alone and keep their relationship strong?
Reply
1-04-2011 @ 12:29AM
Rhiannon Aisling said...While I agree that these are not dates, I do think that when you are all stuck together all summer that some of these would make wonderful ways to keep boredom away(I stay home with the kids all summer; all day; everyday and we have only one car. There are just so many times you can say let's take a walk in 110+ weather and don't have a pool to keep them cool and occupied.) They can spend all week working on their "cars" and I can get stuff done and then on Friday rent a movie or watch one you already have and relax. See wonderful idea, just the wrong setting.
Reply
1-04-2011 @ 1:36AM
kat61969 said...Umm, it's NOT date night if the kids are there. It's family night.
Reply
1-04-2011 @ 2:56AM
Lita said...THANK YOU! The person who wrote this article seems more than a little confused. Okay, I'm being very kind when I say confused.
1-04-2011 @ 11:10AM
dougalcandy said...Totally agree with you all! This sounds like a bunch of activities to make your children happy. While family time is important, it can not replace one on one time with your spouse. Children will not be emotionally scarred if they are told to go to bed and stay there. Or if they are fed early so mom and dad can have an adult dinner together. We need to stop making kids the center of the universe, as everyone as been saying, they actually do grow up selfish and self centered, teenagers and adults that believe the world revolves around them. And yes, I am a parent!
Reply