I'm actually asking for advice with this particular blog entry. We have playdates almost evey day for my son, basically because he loves to play with his friends and of course, it tires him out. Some of our friends are vigilant over their child which enables us the task of simpling watching out for our own child, preventing him from taking a swan dive off the swing set. However, other play dates we've had recently involved parents who do not care to look after their child. One involved a father who was on his cell phone the entire time. Another involved a mom more concerned about herself than anyone else.
These situations make me feel schizophrenic becuase I find myself having to entertain the parent AND watch her child and of course, mine.
So, the question is, how do you deal with playdates in which the parent doesn't seem to watch her own child? You want what is best for all the children and want to make sure they have a fun time, but how do you deal with the parent - especially one that wants to continue to have playdates? Any advice is appreciated.
Hi There!
ReplyDeleteI've actually been in similar situations as you described. For me, I cannot deal with hosting the play date. The anxiety over protecting the visiting child's safety and well-being is too much for me to handle. Therefore, I make it a point to be a guest at the friend's home, but never host.
That way, I feel much less pressure to worry about what the other child is doing. It may be wrong, but this way I am not fearful that the child may get hurt on my property. At the friend's house, I feel that it is much more up to the parent who lives there to be watching out for his/her child's needs.
This also helps for me, because I can leave politely if my stress gets too high over the death-defying stunts that the play date friend is displaying. We play and have a nice time for a bit, but after that..."Daddy and Cupcake have 'gotta go!"
Good point Grateful Dad on the location of the play date. I'll try to do it on someone else's turf. I like playing with my toddler and end up playing with all the kids, but the stress of watching other kids as they may endanger themself is too much. I have enough stress as it is!!!
ReplyDeleteWow! I don't know. I feel the same when we are around parents that aren't watching their children. We made the mistake of having a big neighborhood party last year and all the kids came. Some of the parents were great, but there were a handful that never knew where or what their kids were doing. One of them ran into our house and jumped on my treadmill. She was 6. Luckily I saw her go into the house and followed soon after. Another shoved a huge Costco cupcake down our toilet and flooded it all over our hard wood floors. Where were the parents? Busy talking and eating. Did they care once told about these adventures? No, the laughed and said "that's kids". They're never getting invited over again. :)
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