This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Community Corner

No babysitter for Valentine's Day? No problem!

Simple ways to put the kids to work and still have a Romantic evening at home

No babysitter for Valentine’s Day this year? Don't worry about it! You can still have a fun and romantic evening at home, even with the kids. When our kids were young, we could never get a babysitter for Valentine’s Day. But we recovered by putting the kids to work. That’s right. Putting the kids to work.

I asked my kids if they could help put together a romantic evening for Daddy and I. Even though they were 7 and 9 years old, they took it on as a challenge and were quite creative. Here's how it worked.

1. Decide whether you are going to cook a romantic meal or order in from one of your favorite restaurants. We enjoy cooking but if you don’t, treat yourself and get carry out. Fancy food, not a big mess to clean-up, and a much less expensive bill because you can drink your own wine. If your kids are a little older they may enjoy helping you cook. My daughter made us Valentine's Day Chocolate Mousse last year. Check it out, it's easy.

2. Ask the kids to help by setting a fancy, candlelit table, dressing up as a waiter or waitress, creating a menu, and any other creative thing you can think of to create a romantic restaurant atmosphere. My son would LOVE taking our order and playing waiter for our special evening. If your kids can play an instrument, have them serenade you. Get them to play romantic music on their iPod.

3. Feed the kids one of their favorite meals first while you are cooking or waiting for your carry-out dinner. make them feel special too, right! Then, when they are done "serving" you at the table, put in a movie or turn on the Wii and let the kids amuse themselves in the other room while you both enjoy a romantic dinner together.

4. Once they are in bed – parents can watch a romantic movie, slow dance in the family room, or um, whatever.

Find out what's happening in Deerfieldwith free, real-time updates from Patch.


Your kids will feel special that you asked them to help create a romantic evening for Mommy and Daddy. You’ll be surprised with how much they get into it. If your kids are too young to help out like this, you can still enjoy the same evening. Just feed them early and put them to bed a little earlier. Then enjoy your dinner and romantic time together. If your kids are older, well, you don't need a babysitter at all. Go have fun!

Make sure to make the night special for your kids, too. Give your daughter a single rose, make their favorite cookies, or give them a Valentine and chocolate.

What do you do to celebrate Valentine's Day with the kids? Do you usually go out or stay in on Valentine's Day?

For more fun Valentine's Day crafts, recipes or activities, check out my blog or my Valentine's Day Board on Pinterest.

Find out what's happening in Deerfieldwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Psst! This Saturday is GroundHog Day. Make these fun and easy GroundHog Day Pancakes for your kids or grand kids to make the day a little special.

************

Sue Kirchner is a family fun coach, blogger, kids party planner, and weekly contributor to Patch.com. Sue and her family fun ideas have been featured on TV, newspapers, magazines, blogs, as well as her own family fun site ChocolateCakeMoments.com.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?