Playdates

[YorktownGal]

Originally Posted by msRB311

Thanks for the responses. I'd be happy to let the kids do their thing but I don't want my house destroyed. We have a playroom in the basement and i was fine when the kids went down there...but they didn't stay there. When they went outside and got the bikes and roller blades I felt like i had to watch. I think in the future I'll just limit it to one or two kids. Having 3 at once was too much.

Some people seem to love playdates and think they are easy. I guess I am surprised by that as they dont seem easy to me.

It sounds like a plan. I would watch the kids outside too. And, I once had a three kid playdate (with boys), it's the worse. At least, you aren't entertaining their moms too.

[HeyYa80s]

Originally Posted by msRB311

Thanks for the responses. I'd be happy to let the kids do their thing but I don't want my house destroyed. We have a playroom in the basement and i was fine when the kids went down there...but they didn't stay there. When they went outside and got the bikes and roller blades I felt like i had to watch. I think in the future I'll just limit it to one or two kids. Having 3 at once was too much.

Some people seem to love playdates and think they are easy. I guess I am surprised by that as they dont seem easy to me.

In that case I would def. recommend meeting at park or doing something out at a place..

[wac_432]

Set rules if you don't want to be watching them. Our kids play with neighborhood friends either in the play room or back yard. We have a lot of kits from thrift stores (legos, wooden trains, construction sets, hot-wheels tracks) that allow them to build some pretty elaborate stuff.

They aren't allowed to play out front (street, sidewalk) without us, and the whole point of the playdate is for them to entertain each other in a safe environment. If I schedule time to play with my kids, I don't want other kids around taking away my attention. Same deal with meeting at the park. We do this, but then it's mostly me talking with other parents. That's fine every once-in-a-while, but not something I want to do on a daily basis.

And, yes, playdates should be considered something like free babysitting. You should host as well as send.

I would not host a playdate with more than one friend per child. Preferably less. A herd of kids is always trouble and exhausting. Save that for birthday parties.

[msRB311]

When I had 3 girls over I felt bad because I left one out who we don't know as well as others. Then I thought, you know what forget that, this isn't a bday party. It'll be a while until i do that again.