Do you take your kid(s) on dates?

Do you take you child(ren) on dates?

Perhaps you are thinking, why would I want to do that? Why would I take my child out on a date? I am always doing things for them and taking them places, they have a better social life than me!

Reflect though on your child, do you really know what makes them tick? What are they interested in? How do they feel about a particular subject? Who their friends are?

Dates are an excellent way to connect with your child on a deeper level and they don’t need to cost the earth. They are usually led by something your child is interested in and are seen as a way for you to reboot a relationship that has perhaps lost its way or to shower your child in love in a way that they appreciate.

Keys to success

• Tune into their love language (gifts, physical touch, words of affirmation, quality time or acts of service)

• Go into the date with no expectations other than spending quality time with your child

• Make it all about your son or daughter

• Keep your phones where practical, in your bag, a drawer or switched off

Make a plan

So they don’t happen by chance or get forgotten, can you pop them in the diary as a monthly date or do them each holiday or half term? For the date to happen, you need to be intentional. We are all busy, and things like this can so easily be forgotten.

Date ideas

·      Charity shopping

·      Visit the library or a bookshop

·      Local coffee shop

·      Kick a football down at the park

·      Feed the ducks

·      Go to an exercise class together

·      Cinema trip

·      Go out for ice cream

·      Food shopping

·      A progressive dinner – starter in one place, main meal in another and dessert somewhere else

·      Visit a place of interest – a museum, art gallery, the zoo, a farm

·      Picnics

·      Work on a project together – making something, learning something new, restoring or up-cycling something

·      Dessert only dinner date

·      Go on an adventure (whatever this might look like for your family)

·      Try something you both can’t do - a language class, paddle boarding?

·      An experience - Spa day, laser tag or an escape room

·      Wild swimming

Here is to many happy dates for you and your kiddos. Let me know how they go or if you have any other ideas to add to my list.