This one may surprise some of you: Whole Foods is a great place for a (relatively) cheap date.

I know, I know….”How can that be?,” you’ll say.

“Are you talking about Whole Paycheck?”

I’m quite familiar with the thinking on this one.  I love to shop at Whole Foods, but I don’t do it all that often, because for me, it breaks the bank.

There’s one place, though, where Whole Foods delivers tremendous value.  And that’s in the Cheap Date department.  For far less than you’d pay for a great meal and several glasses of fantastic wine, you can get that PLUS a cooking lesson.  It’s really more of a demo, as you don’t have to get all that involved in the process unless you want to.  You can sit back, relax, chat with your date and enjoy some gourmet foods and unique wines.

Classes range in price from $25 – $45 per person, which is why I classify this one a (relatively) cheap date.

Here are some recent offerings:

Special Wine and Food Event: Spanish Tapas
East Meets West: Cooking with Asian Ingredients
Gluten and Casien Free Cooking

Find the classes near you here.

Also offered are some even cheaper “tasting” alternatives, like Dark Chocolate 101 (just $10), which for me would be a “get me a babysitter – I gotta go to this one” type of event. And speaking of sitters, remember that SitterScout is always here to help you find one.

Have a cheap date idea you want to share?  We’d love to hear from you!   Drop us a line at heidi [at] sitterscout [dot] com.

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One of my favorite dates ever with my husband was on our anniversary back in November — and it was also super cheap!  We took our bikes to the Presidio in San Francisco and rode them across the Golden Gate bridge.  It was one of the most breathtaking and spectacular experiences I’ve had.

The benefits from our date were three-fold:

1. Quality time together away from the distractions of kids and electronic gear  –no way to obsess over your iPhone when you’ve got your hands on those handlebars.
2. A healthy way to spend the day – we burned a ton of calories on our ride (which offset the ones we put on when we shared that enormous ice cream sundae afterward!)
3. Our little date was practically free – it doesn’t get any cheaper than that!

The view from our ride across the bridge

So not all of you live close enough the San Francisco to have this same ride, but there are plenty of places all over America that have great scenery and — after all  – the real point here is to spend quality time with your mate, while getting a little fresh air. And lest you think you need fancy gear for a ride, all I had was my helmet, my workout clothes and a bike that came free with my Mercury Mountaineer back in 1999.

I made it work and it was so worth it!

SF Bay Area Tip/Lazy Girl Solution:  If you ride across the bridge, then down to Sausalito, you can catch the ferry back to Fisherman’s Wharf and avoid the ride back up the hill.

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As parents, it’s so easy to fall into the  trap of doing everything for your children and nothing for yourselves.  Between school, homework, sports, meals, baths, bedtimes….it can all turn into a crazy blur, with you completely depleted of energy and left as a limp heap on the floor.

One thing we tend to forget as parents is that taking time to reconnect in our other relationships can be one of the most valuable things we do as parents. It helps us to recharge and refresh, so that we can do all those things we said we’d do, like go a few days without yelling at the kids.  Plus, if you do it right, it’s a whole lotta of fun!

Here at SitterScout, we think that every parent deserves some time off from parenting, which is really the whole point of us being here.  We do know, however, that with what’s going on in the world right now, many of you think you just can’t afford to pay a babysitter and go out on a date.  After all, by the time you pay your sitter and throw in dinner and a movie, you could be looking at a serious outflow.

And yet we think it’s so important that parents take a little time for themselves that we’re planning to help you out on the frugal front.  Not only can you find a sitter for free with SitterScout (though paying them is up to you), we’ll even help you out with ideas for great dates on the cheap!

So stay tuned in 2010 (gosh that sounds strange!) as we bring you a series of ideas we’re calling Cheap Dates.  And if you have an idea or want to share your favorite Cheap Date, let us know.  We’d love to hear from you! (Just e-mail heidi at sitterscout dot com)

We want to help you make (and keep) a resolution to have more date nights in 2010!

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This time of year can bring out the best and worst in all of us.  There’s so much excitement happening — so much cheer, so much joy, so much love, oh…. and did I mentioned the rushing around, the stress, the crazed feeling you get when you figure out that there’s one more person on your “list” that you need to attend to?  Yes, it’s true, the holidays can be a double-edged sword.

In all the frenzy there may be a couple of people worth singling out.  You guessed it — it’s your babysitters.  These are the gals (or guys) you turn to when you’ve got somewhere you need to be, or just need to be anywhere but home.  These are the folks that get you that “hall pass” you so desperately desire and make sure your precious little ones are safe and sound.  That’s no small feat!

That’s why, at this most wonderful time of the year, SitterScout recommends that you do a little something for your sitters to let them know how much you appreciate them.  It doesn’t have to be a huge something, cash is always nice, of course, but there are other great options, too:

• Bake ‘em a little love – homemade goodies rock!
• Give them the gift of music – an iTunes gift card is always a winner
• Supply them with energy – most sitters I know love Starbucks, especially this time of year
• Provide a great memory – if you have a darling snapshot of your sitter & the kids, find a beautiful frame and wrap it up

What you do for your occasional babysitter this holiday season doesn’t have to be expensive, it just needs to show that you care.  After all, how would you ever get out of the house on your own without them?

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This past Memorial Day marked a big milestone in our family.  We had just returned from a great weekend getaway, and I was sitting at the computer catching up on e-mail when my nine-year-old and seven-year-old cornered me.

My daughter (the seven-year-old) said, “Mom, is Santa real?”

“What do you think?”, I responded.

“Liam thinks he is, and I think he’s not.  Who’s right?”

Ouch, I thought.  What to do? Did I tell the truth and ruin the magic? Or fudge a little and have a few more years of fun?

I took a deep breath.  ”Well, guys, Meredith is right, there’s no Santa.”

“I knew it!”, exclaimed my daughter.

“Awww.”, said my son.  And then, “How do you afford all those presents?!”

No tears.  No yelling.  No flinging themselves onto the couch in agony, as I had done when the next-door neighbor clued me in at the age of five.

It was all a little anti-climactic.  I was relieved.  And to be honest, I felt a bit free.  No more trying to keep track of which presents were from Santa and which were from us!  No more special “Santa” wrapping paper.

But now that the season is almost upon us, I find myself feeling a little sad and a bit nostalgic for the days when they did believe.  Getting ready for Christmas just won’t be the same this year.

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