I live in Houston — one of the nation’s largest cities — and I RARELY get to enjoy a date night with my husband.
(unless, that is, one of my friends takes pity on me and offers to wrangle my kidlets for a night)
The problem is child-care; with no family in the area, and the fact I know absolutely NO teenage girls, it’s hard to find people to watch the kidlets for a couple of hours. Yes, we have friends that will do it for us, but the majority of them have their own passel of children to look after and I hate throwing them a few more.
But, I have come across a solution — a way to have a date night AND trustworthy childcare for the kidlets.
Wait – what does a chamber orchestra have to do with childcare? It’s simple, folks. The Houston River Oaks Chamber Orchestra gets that parents need an easy option for childcare, so they offer the “ROCOrooters.”
The nationally-acclaimed ROCOrooters program provides professional music education and post-concert childcare for children ages 2 months to 10 years, allowing parents to enjoy a concert and dinner out afterward.
That’s right — you get to listen to the beautiful music of the River Oaks Chamber Orchestra while your children are looked after . . . and they’ll CONTINUE to watch them after the concert so you and your “date” can enjoy a little dinner or coffee . . . alone!
Educational Childcare
But this is more than “just” childcare.” The ROCOrooters have created a program that promotes and educates your children in music and concert etiquette.
- ROCOrooters participants ages five and older attend the concert for one piece of music, which prepares them to make the transition to audience members.
- Pre-school aged children receive music instruction tailored to their age group.
- Children 2 and under are looked after in a nursery setting.
The Cost and Registration
The price for this educational childcare? $20 for the first child and $15 for each additional kidlet (under the same name registration) . . . that INCLUDES pizza and movies following the concert (until 9:30 pm) for those children whose parents decide to enjoy time together afterward.
Advance registration is required at www.rocohouston.org or at ( 713 ) 665-2700.
And, now . . . the GIVEAWAY
I have teamed up with the River Oaks Chamber Orchestra and the ROCOrooters to give one lucky mama (or daddy):
- TWO tickets to the River Oaks Chamber Orchestra’s Season Finale concert on Saturday, April 9th, 2011 at 5pm, at the Church of St. John the Divine.
- PLUS up to two registrations for the ROCOrooters childcare/music education program
To Enter
Answer the following question in a comment: When was the last time you and your significant other had a date night?
Bonus Entries (please leave an additional comment for each bonus entry):
- Follow Following In My Shoes on Facebook
- Follow the River Oaks Chamber Orchestra on Facebook
- Follow me on Twitter
- Tweet about this giveaway — you can use the “tweet” button (found both at the top and bottom of this post) as an easy way to send a quick, custom tweet.
Good luck — and I hope to meet the winner at the concert!
This giveaway ends on Monday, April 4th, at noon; winner will be contacted by email and will have 48 hours to confirm his or her email. If the winner does not provide a confirmation, a new winner will be drawn.
Disclaimer: I was contacted by the ROCOrooters program to host this giveaway, in exchange for tickets and childcare to the April 9th concert. And, because I never turn down a free date night and free child-care, I AGREED!
