Just looking for fresh ideas for mummy/child dates. I need some special time with my almost 4 year old.....
..... I went back to work 6wks ago and it has been all chores and no play the last few weekends. I need to pencil in some special time.
What do you enjoy doing with your LO?
cantaloupe / 6017 posts
Going out for lunch, events at the library, painting together, taking a hike in the woods, special events in our community (concerts, museums).... now that we have a baby anything she and I get to do alone and out of the house feels really special and connected
In the house is hard- I'm not great at playing, and often feel distracted by cleaning/chores
cantaloupe / 6017 posts
Sometimes she and I grocery shop alone and then get a little treat like a muffin and a coffee and just sit and chat. I love being able to have actual conversations with her now
wonderful kiwi / 23653 posts
I try to be the one that takes her to special library events. Even taking a small trip to Target, I think she loves it b/c she just likes spending one on one time with me. Going to a cafe and sharing a smoothie/cookie. She's 2.
wonderful pear / 26210 posts
My son really likes art, so we do projects together. We've painted canvases, done marker projects, now we'll do a paper mache thing once the weather warms up.
Also, board games. My son loves to play cards, he'll play monopoly for hours (it used to be candy land and chutes and ladders).
We also sometimes race cars in the driveway, there are a ton of remote controlled things available now. In the summer, we race submarines and boats in our pool.
papaya / 10570 posts
@Silva: yes, same, I'm crap at playing! I need to be out of the house to really focus on her.
pomelo / 5573 posts
B is 3 and we go together to parent/tot classes, we go to Starbucks for a treat, a few times we've gone to a pottery painting place (Christmas ornaments, a Father's Day gift), or we just go to the park.
GOLD / watermelon / 14076 posts
We go on Starbucks dates often. I get coffee and she gets a cake pop and we just chat. It's awesome and I love it so much. DH actually tries to come with us sometimes and she'll tell him no and that Starbucks is only for girls lol.
I also look into events near us. We're going to a tea party this Friday and in a couple of weeks I'm taking her to the ballet.
blogger / kiwi / 588 posts
I love dates with my DS. He is also almost 4 and we have gone to Home Depot for their Kids Workshops, Barnes & Noble to read books and play with the trains and go to Panera for lunch. (He loves their mac & cheese). He also loves going bowling, to the zoo and the aquarium. (Btw if you have a BofA card, you might be able to go to some museums for free during the first weekend of every month!)
cantaloupe / 6131 posts
Children's museum
Zoo or aquarium
Coffee date
Brunch date
Ice cream date
Bowling
Go to a live show like Disney or Peppa Pig
Gym class
Swim class
Paint your own ceramics place
Hopscotch with sidewalk chalk (and maybe paint a special hopscotch rock)
Learn string tricks like cat's cradle
Build a dollhouse out of a cardboard box.
Make homemade play dough together.
"Visit" another country/culture by making some kind of food or snack from that country and read a book or watch a video based on that country. For instance, you can say we are going to have Dole Whips (blend frozen pineapple, milk, and condensed sweetened milk until you get a creamy sorbet) since pineapples are grown in Hawaii and do coloring sheets of Hawaiian things (or watch Moana!). Make a grass skirt from streamers or construction paper. Watch YouTube videos about hula dancing.
grapefruit / 4321 posts
@lawbee11: Daddy is only allowed at Starbucks when he's picking up a drink to deliver to Mommy 
As others have said, really anything that we do just the two of us out of the house feels special to her. But some examples are: Lunch/Coffee/Ice Cream Date, Going to the movies, shopping trip, getting our nails painted, playground/park trip, and special events (live shows, etc).
pear / 1961 posts
we have done special things we couldn't take little sister to (e.g., ice skating), gotten her haircut, and gone to the zoo. we were also consistently doing "Donut Thursdays" for awhile and trying out all of the different donut shops in town!
papaya / 10570 posts
@KayKay: how was ice skating with a preschooler? Are you a good skater yourself? I'd love to take E because she's always asking to go but I've only ever been twice, when I was a teen (and I was useless) so I'm not going to be any use looking after her......!
eggplant / 11824 posts
@Truth Bombs: @lawbee11: We do Starbucks dates too. The other day we were out and LO overheard someone mention Starbucks and E was all “OMG mom, did you hear that lady say Starbucks? She must love it too; like us!” If only she knew how many people love her special spot - Starbucks 
We go for girls lunch, we go and get our nails painted together at a salon, we take crafty type classes together (some at the children’s museum like candle making and next month a class in how to turn a t-shirt into a reusable grocery bag, etc.), go to the children’s museum, go to the library, bookstore, thrift shops together, we volunteer together. Another big one is getting ice cream together.
At home we bake together, sometimes do arts or craft projects together, etc.
persimmon / 1233 posts
We sometimes go to plays at the children's theater. He's also gotten into birdwatching so we'll go on a nature hike and look for birds, or an organized nature preserve.
pear / 1961 posts
@cherrybee: i am not a good skater, but i can do the basics: stand up, skate forward, skate backwards. they had a trainer that we used a bit, and then just shuffled around close to the wall. it was fun! we also went to the park ice rink one time, so i just kept my boots on.
pomelo / 5573 posts
@Cherrybee: Skating with a preschooler is hard if you're not pretty stable. At least if my experience is any indication, because getting B to support his own weight is nearly impossible and I mostly end up bent double holding him up while trying to convince him to at least keep his blades touching the ice. Even if you get a skating frame they require a lot of support at first.
pear / 1837 posts
I will sometimes take her with me on an errand at night (Target, grocery store, etc.). I also take her to ballet every week without the baby.
One thing we started doing in the first year after DD2 was born is "special time" at night. This is while one parent puts the baby to bed, the other has undivided time with 4 year old. Typically she directs the play- princesses, dancing, coloring, drawing. It's usually 10-15 minutes before reading books at bedtime but it's helped her feel very bonded to both my husband and I. And vice versa.
grapefruit / 4988 posts
I haven't had time to take her out one on one much, but almost every night we play a board or card game while DH gives the baby a bath. It's been really nice for our relationship to have that time together.
papaya / 10570 posts
@KayKay: Hahaha, if you think skating BACKWARDS is basic, you and I are not at the same level! Hmm, perhaps ice skating is a little ambitious for me!
pear / 1961 posts
@cherrybee: ha! well i definitely don't mean anything fancy or fast, just that i can move backwards without falling down? the only issue will be is if you don't feel comfortable standing up yourself, it may be difficult to help your LO up after falling! otherwise as long as you can stand/move, you'd generally be fine.
wonderful cherry / 21504 posts
@Cherrybee: c goes ice skating with DH sometimes and they both love it, she gets so excited about it. But he is very good, played hockey in middle school (so not like, very good pro or anything but very comfortable on skates). Just watching them I know I could never ever take her myself.
We sometimes do lunch dates which is nice. I would r ally like to take her to the ballet- we've gone to the nutcracker two years in a row and she loves it, but I'm not sure what other ballers would be as kid friendly. @lawbee11: what kind of ballet are you going to? Is it geared towards kids, professional...?
GOLD / watermelon / 14076 posts
@Foodnerd81: It's a local production of Cinderella put on by the dance school she goes to, so I assume most of the dancers are in high school? She loves watching the older ballerinas practice so I think she'll like it!
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