import json
import datetime
test = '[{"date":"2000-01-01 00:00:00","foo":"bar"},{"date":"2022-12-31 23:59:59","lorem":"ipsum"}]'
def hook(pairs, format="%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S"):
d = {}
for k, v in pairs:
#if isinstance(v, basestring):
if k == "date":
try:
d[k] = datetime.datetime.strptime(v, format)
except ValueError:
d[k] = v
else:
d[k] = v
return d
print (json.loads(test, object_pairs_hook=hook))