Historically Friday nights are date nights for me and the hubs. We drop Jax off at GG’s house or at evening drop-in daycare and we head out for an evening to unwind and enjoy each other. But since Jax started pre-school we have been forgoing Friday date nights.
You see, Jax only goes to school on Fridays and it is a long day for her. We pick her up between 4-5pm and by that time we are both missing her something fierce. We just don’t have it in us to then dump her off again after being away from her all day.
So we’ve started something of a new tradition – Family date night with homemade pizza.
While Jax is at school I shop for all the ingredients for a delicious homemade pie and as soon as we get home we make it.
Oh, the joy my girl gets from helping me make dinner. She has to have her hands in every part of it, from picking the fresh herbs for the sauce from our garden to rolling out the dough and adding on the toppings. She even keeps an eye on the masterpiece while it cools enough to be sliced and eaten.
Jax leads us in the grace she learned at school and we all enjoy our pizza, better than any delivery or take-out.
This weekly family bonding has helped Jax adjust to going to school. She is still weary every Friday morning as I get her ready for her school day and there are still tears at drop-off but helping mommy make pizza is something she knows to look forward to after school. Her teachers tell me she talks about it during share time.
Family pizza date nights for the win!
In case you are wondering, (and I know you are) since we no longer have Friday date nights, the hubs and I try to have day dates while Jax is at school, work schedules permitting. If not, we aim for later in the weekend. We feel weekly date nights are of the utmost important in a marriage with children, so we try to make them a priority.
