A resolution … and 9 Winter Date Ideas to go on with your kids

Location: Downtown Cambridge

Sweet Bakery

Sometimes I think about taking my kids out to a museum. Or park. Or zoo. Or restaurant. And I’m already exhausted.

And so we stay home. And play at the playground in our complex and the playroom next door. We build towers and have dance parties and make muffins. And that’s okay.

But you know what else is okay? A cute cupcake in a little bakery in downtown Cambridge where Lincoln runs out onto the sidewalk before I can grab him. Or a lunch date with friends where one of my toddlers runs back into the kitchen while I’m feeding the other (sorry, Swiss Bakers).

This year I want to say yes to more of these family outings and still come home thinking they were great ….even considering the inevitable melt down (or runaway, or mess, or yelling, or chaos).

So here’s to more adventure and lower expectations, with plenty of pajama wearing muffin making days in between.

If you’re looking for fun mom + kid winter date ideas, here’s what’s on our winter bucket list while Ben is busy at school

Mom + Me Winter Date Ideas:

1. Boston Children’s Museum  – if you’re not in Boston, I’m sure your city has a children’s museum, too!
2. Alston Library Story Time – from Ohio, to NH, and now Mass, we love library story time …but I haven’t been so great and getting all three of us there
3. Chick-fil-a (this hardly counts because we do it at least once a month anyway – but this is my favorite date with just me and the kids)
4. Boston Science Museum – I have so many memories of going here growing up so taking my own kids here sounds so fun to me
5. Harvard Square Chocolate Festival – google to see if there are any fun festivals in your area..this one is at the end of February and I’m hoping it’ll be a little warmer than it is right now
6. A hot chocolate date – Lincoln STILL talks about the one time in Ohio we got soup just the two of us (“on a date”) so I’m anticipating a fun little hot chocolate date in our future
7. Visit a fire station (or the Boston Fire Museum) – lincoln asks for this every couple of weeks…you can also google to see if local mom groups have a scheduled time to visit a fire station
8. Play in the snow (all the bundling up for 20 minutes in the snow hardly seems worth it but I’m committing to at least one mom+kids snow play date)
9. Take a class – this one will be just me and Lincoln but our local YMCA has some fun classes kids can start at 2 or 3 with a parent and I’m excited one with him next session

What about you? What are your favorite winter date ideas to take your kids on? Let me know in the comments below!

photos from my friend Lorna at Lorna Snell