It's a pretty known fact (especially in our house) that dad does things different than mom. Let me preface this by saying that there's nothing wrong with that. I would never expect my husband to do things the exact same way I do. While we agree on how to handle the major issues, it's just a fact that we do not parent the same way. My husband does not like the kids being loud in the house (so he sends them to backyard so the rest of the neighborhood can endure the loudness?), while I hardly notice.
Dad does Spaghetti Works and Red Robin, while Mom can't stand chain restaurants. Dad doesn't adhere to early bedtimes. Mom adheres to earlier than usual bedtimes. Dad doesn't care if you leave the house in pajama bottoms. Mom very much so does. Dad has no issues with donuts for breakfast....well, I guess Mom doesn't either really, as long as it's paired with a fruit.
My husband is the looser parent in all of the areas I'm not and strict in the areas I'm not. It works well for us. While parenting is always challenging, we (usually) have a decent handle on our circus train. So, when June 30th date night rolled into a "sick" mom the next morning, I didn't hesitate to send the minis off with Hubs (actually, to be completely truthful, we had a Netflix morning with the kids on the couch before either one of could move around much).
He took them to the zoo for a nice long visit. A longer than usual visit. I didn't think much of it, but instead relished in the silence of the house. Then they returned home.
"Dad let us pick out our own fireworks!"
"What?"
"We all picked out our own fireworks! We got a whole bunch!"
So, let's review: while mom was hungover and sleeping, my husband took the minis to buy explosives (something I would never do, fyi). My dear sweet children had never mentioned going "fireworks shopping" to me, but as soon as they were in the car with just Dad, they instantly brought it up. While I would have taken them to Target to pick out a new game or the book store for new books, my husband takes them to the "big fireworks stores." Well played children. They've officially figured out the dad way and the mom way.