First of all here are my top five reasons why I avoided playdates:
1. Two is not always better than one. If I am having a bad day, I surely would not want another one. Duh. So, if I already have one crazy attention hungry bull in a China shop running around my house, why in the hell would I go out and seek another to come over?
2. Moms can be just as annoying as their kid, if not more. Just because our kids are the same age doesn’t mean I have to like you. While I am an advocate for being friendly to other moms at the park… have you heard the annoying shit they can talk about? Hell No(!!!) I don’t want to spend an hour talking about that kind of lame ass crap!
3. I don’t want to test the, “You break. You Buy.” rule in someone’s home. It’s hard enough keeping the man-child out of trouble in our own home, but having stay on him like flies on shit the entire time we are at someone’s house sucks. My kid can demolish a house faster than an earthquake.
4. Routine is everything. Do I really even need to explain this? When it’s naptime, it is (HELL YES!!!!!) nap naptime
5. My kid probably will beat up your honor student. While the Man-child is not off the height chart… he is really close. So when a kid his age, but half his size, toddles over, I start fearing a lawsuit. He has been known to push a kid TWICE his size out of his way to go down the slide. No, I’m not proud of this; it’s actually super embarrassing.
While I am not saying my five reasons are not still valid, they are worth the risk for the reward of a playdate...
When a couple with a 2 ½ year old invited us over for a proper playdate, I was concerned (see reasons above) but thought, What the hell, Ollie needs a friend… When we got to their house it was complete chaos at first. Ollie went crazy over all of the super cool toys the kid had. He was jumping from toy to toy, running them up to me and FTD, then dropping them at our feet and running off for a new one.
I was a nervous wreck at first. I kept apologizing to my friend and picking up the trail of toys Ollie was leaving in his wake. My friend just kept taking the toys out of my hand and telling me to relax. When I finally relaxed, I realized that Ollie had too. He and his new friend were playing side-by-side, leaving my friend and I to hang out and catch up! FTD was off having beers in the mancave. Life was good! Really. Good.
After a wonderful first playdate I was intrigued to try it again at our house. This time a four-year-old neighbor came over. SAME THING! Ollie and his friend played in his room while I was left to hang out and chat with the neighbor. HELL YES! I love playdates. I want to have them all of the time. Everyday. Morning and afternoon.
I am so glad Ollie is finally at the age where he can play with other kids. He has become very demanding of me and FTD lately wanting to play and read books CONSTANTLY. I have been struggling with the idea of daycare, just so he can interact and play with other kids while I have some much needed me time! (Post on this coming soon) So for now, playdates are EPIC. The man-child is getting to play with other kids, and I am getting to have a much needed break from Hot Wheels, Thomas the Tank Engine and his five favorite books, and catch up with friends! If you are dealing with the same demanding child and haven’t started having playdates yet, GET ON IT!
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