Parents Need to Date Other People

This is a crazy idea that I know many people out there may not agree with, but as a parent, I feel the need to date people besides my wife.  There are two people in particular that I need to date on a regular basis.  Maybe you guys are getting the wrong idea here, a date should be a fun time between two people where they make each other feel good and feel like a million bucks!  Parents need to spend time on a regular basis taking their own tiny humans on a date, what else could I have meant?

When I was still in the Navy, I had a lot of chances to have a day off in the middle of the week and would have a Brennan – Daddy day and we would go do something fun.  It doesn’t seem to happen very often any more, unfortunately.  I took him to the NASCAR race yesterday for his birthday, he loves going to the races.  We had a very full day!  We got to meet Jimmie Johnson for a STEM demonstration and Q&A session.  He got to ask a question (I had no idea that he was going to ask anything), and it was a very technical question about how he feels at Dover with the turns being lower than the straightaways.  We met up with some friends and walked around the track.  I even caved and got him a few little cars, a T-shirt, a soft pretzel and we even shared some deep fried Oreos.  On the long ride home, he said to me that we need to do this more often and since I got out of the military, we don’t have as many days without the girls, mano-a-mano!  This really got me thinking and he was dead on!

We had a bro-date and we both loved every minute of it (besides the 90+ degrees).  We, as parents, spend far too much time disciplining our kids and stressed out by everything else going on and forget how precious of a time it can be for our tiny humans.  We always try to spend family time, but sometimes the kids need some alone time with you.  Every kid needs to know that they are our top priority, and as much as we can tell them, we need to show them.  A date like this doesn’t need to be something as expensive as a sporting event, a simple walk or trip out for McDonalds or ice cream goes a long way.  Last week, I took Lilly to work with me for Bring a Child to Work Day and she was totally different to how she is at home with my wife or around her brother.

These dates have many different purposes, besides both of us having a great stress-free day; it serves as a good example.  They will hopefully understand that a date can be a fun time and that the most important thing is to make each other feel like a million bucks and how to treat another person.  When they get (much) older, they will know how to treat other people, opening doors and pulling out chairs when going on a date.  We set the example for them every day, how we treat our significant other shows them how they will treat theirs when they get older.

Talking to Brenn for 30 minutes or so, we decided that we are going to do this often and next time we are going to Buffalo Wild Wings for a dinner date.  Lilly doesn’t know it yet, but we will be doing the same thing very soon as well!  As I’m having this conversation with my wife, she tells me that her parents said something similar recently and are going to take one child Friday night and the other on Saturday so that they get alone time with each kid and we do as well.  It is going to be a fun weekend for sure, on top of Brenn’s birthday Orioles game; we need to come up with a date or two.

Always set the example and stay strong out there dads!