doughnuts with dad

A few years ago, we wanted to start having individual "date nights" with the kids. One of us would take one child out for a treat or some time at a park, etc....we could sense they needed some one-on-one time..especially with Tim. Of course, we thought our children would be so excited just at the thought of having this quality time with mom or dad, and wouldn't care what we did.....just being together would be a treat! (most of you - especially if you have children - can read between the lines here and see what's coming...) We were blindsided with how quickly the expectations rose....honestly, I didn't know these kids had it in them! It started out with maybe a breakfast at Panera playing tic-tac-toe, then it was going to the park to hit balls (all good things, yes)...then the stakes (and the $$) got higher and we heard "can we BUY something fun on my date, mom?" and even "on MY date, I want to go to a BEARS game!!!". We quickly put a stop to this before any trips to the windy city were made, and we set the necessary boundaries (only TIME spent...not money). Anway, we've tried various forms of dates and have admittedly, on the parental end, not been able to keep them consistent. So this week we're trying a new one: doughnuts with dad. Tim spends Wednesdays working at church and doesn't have to be out the door as early as on other days. Also, mornings don't usually have the scheduling conflicts that weeknights so often do. So the plan is that each Wednesday morning, Dad will take one child to Donut Delite for a fun breakfast and a little quality time....they can each look forward to their turn, and there are no variables on who gets what or goes where. Peter got to have the inaugural doughnut date this morning, and he did feel special! So I'm thinking we may have found something that works. But just in case, since I know most of the folks who read my blog are fellow moms......any other ideas out there?