Lunch Dates

Dave and I have made an effort to take each of our kids out for a "date" each month.  They're nothing formal.  Tyler went on a date with me to the dentist office, and Chad has gone with Dave to get a few things at Home Depot.  Mostly, they are not planned; the opportunity just presents itself and we take it.  It is the time together that we're aiming for, not what were doing.

But this month, I decided that I needed to set up a mommy lunch date with each of my boys.  There is a little bakery near Chad's school that I thought would be perfect to kidnap him from school and drag him there for lunch.  When I mentioned the idea to him, he suggested that instead, I come and eat lunch with him at his school.  He also let me know that because it was a "date", I needed to find a babysitter for the other two boys.  I consented.  I found out after the fact that my lunch had cost me $4.00!!!  For school lunch-seriously?!  WOW!  I won't do that again!  But it was so fun to be with him in that setting.  I met each of his friends and got to see how he interacts with them.  I saw how he eats (or should I say, doesn't eat-sometimes his lunches come home untouched).  The best part was that when he was finished with his lunch, he left to go play outside . . . without me.  I was still in at the table finishing my food.  I had to go out to the playground and find him to tell him I was leaving.  :)  I wish I had remembered my camera, but it was a fun time.   

Of course, Tyler wanted to have his own "lunch date" too.  He wanted to go to "Old McDonald's".  We actually went for a breakfast date because when I got everyone in the car to go and run my errands this morning, he informed me that he never ate breakfast (I had gone running during breakfast and I never asked Dave who had eaten) I and I had been in too much a hurry to eat either.  So, rather than stick to our lunch plan, we moved it up a few hours.  Tyler wanted Greyson to be on his date too, so we headed to "Old McDonald's" and had a great time. 

Sometimes, I think something little like this helps our kiddos feel connected to us and loved in a different way.  I'm looking forward to many more "dates" with my kiddos over the years.