Family Friday: Date your children

Last week I discussed the importance of dating your spouse. This week, I am going to talk about having regular one-on-one time with your children.

Any parent of more than 1 child knows how difficult it can be to give individual attention to each child. Yet, it is very important for our children to know that we love them as individuals and to have "alone" time with both parents. We try to do it so that each child gets a one-on-one date with each parent at least once a month. I asked my oldest what her favorite part of her "dates" were and she said it allows her to talk privately with us, another great reason for having these dates.

Ok, so dating our kids is a great idea, but time and/or money may make it difficult. For both issues, dates do not need to be the same as a romantic date. We have had dates to the laundremat, grocery store, Wal-Mart, etc. Sometimes, my husband will take the other kids to the park and my date and I will stay home and have a cooking date. I do try to include a special "treat" with each date, but it is not necessary. One of my daughters' favorite dates was to go to Tim Horton's with me and share a lemon pastry (79 cents). Other times the treat will be a trip to the dollar store where they can pick 1 item. It is rare that the treat costs more than $1. Besides, it is not the treat that matters, it is the individual attention they are receiving.