I have a confession. When my boys were little, “play dates” totally stressed me out. Now I admit that back in the day, I was a wee bit high strung – so it’s no wonder these organized “dates” that were supposed to help my child “learn to socialize” caused me stress. The whole time I would be thinking: Is my child behaving? Is he sharing? Is the other child having fun? Is the mom having fun? Hell, am I having fun? And most importantly, is this helping my child learn to be a good friend?
Now that my boys are older, I truly enjoy and look forward to play dates, which somewhere around 2nd grade are renamed to being called “getting the boys together.” Not only do I love watching the social dynamics that emerge as the kids get older and friendships mature, but I also flat out adore their friends. Because now I know my child is behaving (most of the time), he is sharing, the other child is having fun (and so is the mom because now all play dates are drop-off, so she gets a few hours of a well-deserved break) and hell, I am having fun after all.
And most importantly, I believe my children have learned what it takes to be a good friend.
Here’s to the delightful evolution of The Play Date.
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