the magic of day dates

We have an eight and five year-old, and I’m embarrassed to say that I just recently figured out the magic of day dates. A friend and I wanted to go to a book event last month (at this AMAZING bookstore – seriously worth the road trip, locals), so we asked the husbands if they wanted to come along and hang out at a brewery while we did the author event. They didn’t take much convincing. Not surprisingly, it turned out to be a great and seriously relaxing day. Best of all, we paid the babysitter about the same as what we would pay her for an evening date, but the kids were awake the whole time, playing and having fun. On a traditional evening date, even if we let our kids stay up a little late, we’re still paying a sitter to sit and watch Netflix while our kids sleep. Seriously, so embarrassing that we haven’t thought of this before.

Last weekend, we continued the trend and went out with friends for a long birthday lunch while our kids played together the entire afternoon…so we came home relaxed and ready to hang out with them, and they went to bed early because they were worn out. Win, win.

This is obviously in the “Mr. Obvious” category, but I thought I would share just in case this helps out anyone else. One of my resolutions for 2018 will certainly be more day dates!