How do you do something special and show you care without them even realizing?

I admit it. I am an all or nothing type of gal. For me , I either eat the whole chocolate cake or none of it. So, when it comes to spending time with my children I tend to have the same mantra "all for one and one for all".  I love the sense of family that being together brings forth. Having twins (that's the two kids same age thing need I keep reminding you) I have always tended to lump everyone together when it came to activities. So, when we go to the ice cream store we all go, the supermarket, we all go, the playground, you get the idea.  Then one day a friend asked me a very simple question but for me it spoke volumes.  She asked me if I ever went out alone with my children? What do you mean? A date with my kid I blurted out andt that is exactly what she meant; a date with your kid(s).  So being the Type A over achieving mom that I am, I decided to initiate this new date routine into our family immediately.  I scheduled out some dates for both me and my husband to spend some quality one on one time and began jotting down some ideas of outings. The new butterfly exhibit, the car show, an amusement park and then it hit me again. No, No, that's not the idea at all. The idea is to keep it simple. Merely go out for hot chocolate and bring a deck of cards, sit on the grass at the park and read alice in wonderland, grab an ice cream cone and play cats in the cradle. It's not about the activity it's about being there; just you and them. The lesson to be shared is that by simply taking the time to just be with your child they will create their own self image matter where you go or what you do. In fact it should be simple. It's about spending the time alone and focused on the task at hand.  It's about you conciously taking the time out of your day to just be there with them.  That alone tells them "you matter".So now go ahead and try it ... ask your kid out on a date, you just may be his/her type!