Going out at night gets a lot harder when you’re older. As you age, you get more cautious, which is a good thing! After all, you don’t want to find yourself in an accident where you have to hire an attorney to help you with a personal injury. In addition, you likely have responsibilities that you have to keep in mind, which means returning home sooner than you would have in your early 20s.

For many of us, that also means figuring out how to enjoy a night out on the town when you have kids at home.

Don’t give up date night or a night with your girlfriends just because you have kids! There are things you can do to make it easier to leave the kids at home so you can have a good time getting out of the house.

Get a Sitter You Trust
If you want to go out, you have to find someone else who is willing to watch your kids. Unfortunately, that’s a lot easier said than done for many families.

Not everyone has friends or family they can fall back on. Even if you do, you may not trust grandma to watch after your little ones. If grandma is willing to watch the kids for free, but you’re worried about the care your kids are receiving while she’s there, you won’t have a good time.

Even if it costs money and takes time, it’s important to find a good babysitter that you trust. If you find a competent sitter, you can feel good that your children are in good hands so you can truly relax.

Make It Sound Exciting to the Kids
You’re probably looking forward to getting out with friends or a spouse, but you’re sad about leaving your kids at home. Although it’s true that your kids might be stressed when you first leave, it’s also true that they can have a great time too!

Make having a babysitter sound fun to the kids. That means helping the sitter come up with fun games and activities to do with the kids while you’re gone. A few ideas include:

• Buy a new board game
• Get out the arts and crafts
• Have them make a homemade pizza
• Prep an outdoor scavenger hunt in the dark

Make a Plan for Drinks
Having a few drinks isn’t something you get to do very often when you’re hanging out with the kids, but it’s something you can do when you go out at night! Just make sure you have a plan in place for drinks.

If you are driving home at the end of the evening, make sure you know how much you can drink to drive home safely. If you aren’t going to be the one driving, you should still have a plan for how much you’re going to drink if you’re returning home at the end of the evening. That way, you aren’t taking care of the kids the next day while you’re hung over!

Say Goodbye to the Kids
Although you may be tempted to sneak out when it’s finally time to go, it’s important that you say goodbye to your children. It’s an important lesson for them to learn that their parent will have to leave sometimes, but you will always come back.

It’s also good to model positive social behaviors for your children. You deserve to have a life with friends and loved ones outside of your immediate family unit, and it’s important that your kids see that.

Don’t Hesitate to Check In
You may think that checking in will make it more difficult for you to have a great time. That could be true. If you’re going out, you should spend less time worrying about what’s happening at home and more time enjoying yourself.

However, if you’re feeling anxious about how things are going at home, you probably aren’t going to be able to relax until you check in. Give a quick call or send a text message if you feel like you need to. Just try not to spend your entire evening checking in every few minutes. Otherwise, you might as well have stayed home!

Don’t put off going out at night and enjoying yourself for years because you’ve got kids at home. There are ways you can leave the kinds behind with a sitter and feel good about it so you can make great memories with adult friends and loved ones.