kid date nights



Our nest is growing and any moment now we will have five little people who call us Daddy and Mommy.  With the addition of each child, we have had to become more intentional in our parenting.  I have always enjoyed when I get some one on one time with my children.  There is something beautiful that happens when they are away from their siblings and your own heart can focus 100% on that child.

A few weeks ago Kevin and I revamped our budget, renewed the vision for our family, and made some goals for this next year.  One of the things put into place: kid dates.  This isn't a new idea to our family but now it is a nonnegotiable with priority on the calendar.  While Kevin and I would each love to take each one of our children out by themselves every week, the reality is budget and schedules just don't make that possible.  We are starting with a goal that is achievable even as our lives get busier with school starting.  

One date night with each child every other month.  So I will get to spend an entire evening with two of my children this month and Kevin will take the other two and then next month we will switch.  The kids will get some quality time all by themselves every month with one parent... away from the distractions of chores, schedules, siblings, and technology.  It sounds so simple, but it is amazing how calendars can fill up and all the sudden you realize that months have gone by without taking the time to make something like this happen... especially when there are multiple children in the house - one on one time is a precious commodity.  We spend lots of time all together as a family, but the individual stuff doesn't always happen.

First up, my night out with Kody.  After months of medication and weeks of sitting to keep this baby in, now it does not want to come out.  It has really been such a gift to have a few more weeks to focus on the four who are already here and soak up these last moments of summer with them.  We ate an early dinner together at home as a family and then Kody and I ran out.  Kevin picked up the cleaning up and bedtime for the other kids - love him!

The evening with Kody was something that I will remember forever.  Not because of what we did, but because of the conversation we could have.  I was able to truly get a glimpse into his heart and he was able to share things that can't always come out in the chaos of family life.  He is changing and this season is precious.  There is a transition going on in our relationship and we are building the foundation for the road ahead.  It is crazy how fast time goes by and the reality is we are just a blink from Kody heading off to middle school.  These next two years are important ones in our relationship.  He has talked about our evening out it over and over again since that day and how he can't wait to do it again.  Me too!



Comments

  1. LOVE it! We need to work harder to make something similar happen here too...it's hard, but so important!

    ReplyDelete

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