@Kathleen – the museum and tapas sounds like a fun addition! And yes, good to have things planned every weekend that you are looking forward to (so the actual planning is just which restaurant and which movie).

It’s easy for the parents: every Saturday night, we have a home date night after the kids are in bed. Cocktails, wine, dinner at 10 pm (so nobody tries to join us). It’s a lovely, lovely ritual. Just caffeinate beforehand.

For the whole family: Sunday night family movie and takeout. It all happens without planning, because it happens every week. Anything more is gravy!

This weekend the “more” is sleepovers for both kids, Sunday night dinner out with another couple (doing family movie night Monday), and Monday doing a museum and Spanish tapas in downtown DC. So excited for a weekend packed with little pleasures and adventures!

Well I can definitely get behind that! 🙂 Thanks for responding

Cb – Yep, I hate the idea of a weekend that feels wasted. Time is precious and fulfilling, rejuvenating weekends are a key part of making it feel that way.

@ARC – only two more people to figure out! That shouldn’t be too hard.

@Jennifer – I totally get it, but my point with this post was more that it was OK for the *adults* to have something to look forward to! As parents it’s easy to create weekends that feature kid want-to-dos and our have-to-dos, but we can have our playdates as well.

@Delia – very true that it can be the same thing, and it doesn’t have to be elaborate. Just something that you are genuinely looking forward to!