Part of spending quality family time together includes going out and enjoying each other’s company as a group. Families with a Purpose is a website that looks at families and the different choices they make for parenting their children.
We have already looked at minimalist and organic parenting, but each family has specific goals and dreams for raising their children and their activities together often will reflect the decisions they make. Families with a Purpose offers a local attraction page per city that may give parents some new ideas about what to do with their special day together. FAMILY OUTINGS
Goby.com also offers a great resource for family fun. Simply enter the city and type of activity you are looking for into their search engine and the application will pull up countless number of activities for your family to do. You can even use the application on your phone, in case you are already out and about and want to be spontaneous.
FAMILY DINING
I love to take the family out to restaurants every once in a while, it gives me a break from having to prepare meals and clean them and it is fun for each of us get what the want to eat. However, dining with family can be exhausting and frustrating if you go to a place that isn’t family friendly, so here are some national chains that are considered the very best in family dining by Parent’s Magazine.
PARENTS MAGAZINE’S TEN BEST FAMILY DINING RESTAURANTS
For those of you on the East Coast there is #1 Legal Seafood which offers a kids menu with adult-type foods in smaller portions. This makes kids feel special as they can eat what their parents are eating, which makes them feel more grown up. Legal Seafood also has an online store that delivers to your door for at home family fun, if there isn’t a restaurant in your local area.
#2 Souplantation and Sweet Tomatoes offers buffet style dining that has great healthy choices for your whole family. With big open dining rooms and all you can eat buffet offerings, this is a great place to bring the kids and let them design their own healthy meals. You may want to use your outing as a way to teach about making good food choices.
#3 Mimi’s Cafe has a great children’s menu and serve goldfish and snacks upon arrival. They also provide highchairs and bibs for the little guys. Also their fries are trans-fat free and they have many healthy options for children (and parents) to chose from.
These are the top ten, the others included Uno Bar and Grill, Chilis, Red Robin, Old Spaghetti Factory, PF Chang’s China Bistro, Denny’s and the Claim Jumper.
AND SOMETHING MORE UNIQUE
It may take a bit of searching but doing a Google search for a Play Cafe in your area might be worth the effort to find a fun place for your kids to just be kids and for you to have a little adult talk time, while getting a healthy meal. Here are some examples of places that are fun and family friendly.
THE LITTLE TREE HOUSE, PHILADELPHA
http://www.treehouseplaycafe.com/welcome
PLAY CAFE, OAKLAND
NIBBLES PLAY CAFE
http://www.nibblesplaycafe.com/
These are just a few of play cafe’s that are around the nation, but go on an adventure, to scout one out in your area.
FAMILY POT LUCK
Another fun way for parents to have adult interactions while still entertaining their children is to have a family pot luck and gather together friends, neighbors or school mates for a family pot luck, where everyone brings a dish and the kids can eat and play together. Rotate the hosting house so that the family doesn’t get burned out, but a fun family pot luck really is a great way to help your children learn about socialization and keeps you connected to your friends. Consider having a weekly dinner, we meet with our kid’s God parents every week for a family pot luck and I have seen the kids really benefit from this kind of social interaction.
