Friday, January 18, 2013

When Dad's Away

Having Fun While Dad's Away



Whenever my husband travels for work I find myself dreading the evenings. Of course, during the day life moves along at its normal pace and we can pretend he's just at work. But as the dinner hour approaches, I'm sadly reminded that there will be an empty seat at the table. If you stay home with your kids alone for any length of time, you understand how welcomed it is to have an extra set of eyes and ears as well as refreshed sense of patience. So this time, I made a plan to come up with some fun evening activities to fill the time and make some memories. The plan is to make activities that are fun, don't cost a lot and don't require too much prep or planning.

Night #1: Brinner
 Breakfast for Dinner!
This placemat keeps them busy while you cook. I figured, hey, it works for restaurants,
 it might work at home too.
Attire- pajamas and robes
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Night #2: Tycoon Night
Dress up fancy
Play Monopoly
Sip on mocktails- cranberry juice and sparkling soda
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Night #3: Worst Outfit Photo Contest
Dress up in the most outrageous outfit you can piece together and have a photo shoot.
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Night #4: Living Room Picnic
Picnic dinner on living room floor while we watch Antz or Bugs Life
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Night #5: All About Dad
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Night #6
Where did he go? 
Learn about where Dad went on his trip.
Try some food from that location.
My husband went to India, so me and the kids found an Indian restaurant.
We also learned a little bit about India.

The time didn't pass any faster but I think we made some memories and it will make for fun stories to tell Daddy whenever he gets home. 

3 comments:

  1. Such great ideas! Sounds like a lot of fun memories ;)

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  2. How awesome! What a great idea. My husband travels to Japan often for his job. Maybe I'll steal some of your ideas!

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  3. Wish I had this all those years my husband was deployed. Although we did do things like high tea when we all dressed in our very best and the boys served tea. We also played laser tag in the house after we covered all of the windows and turned out all the lights.

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