The Saga of Playdates

We just had a play date today, and I have to tell you, play dates are an interesting thing.

I think the modern play date is a recent invention to make mothers feel very inadequate. Think about it. You make a date on your calendar to get together with someone you don't get to see very often so your kids can get together and play, while you get to sit and chat. The point is really for them to entertain themselves so that you can have an adult conversation with another member of the human race.

Sounds great in theory. But needless to say, it never happens that way.

You stick two (or more) children together that haven't been around each other for a while and then expect them to behave as if they were adults, on their best behavior, and entertaining each other. One child always wants to play with one thing, or a different child than the first, and fighting, crying and general chaos result.

So, either I need to never have play dates with people I don't see everyday, or I need to relax my standards a bit!! I may never get to have a conversation with someone in the near future that does not include crayons, hair pulling, or watching TV, but I get to be with my friend.

So I suppose that parenting never goes on hold, even during play dates, but I get to do it with someone, rather than by myself, and that is the "date" part of play date...

Keeping it real,
Brandie