4 ms·

Yes, this culture of parents scheduling play dates drives me insane. And even if you try to schedule, everyone is so busy. Kids have karate and 30 minutes later

Yes, this culture of parents scheduling play dates drives me insane. And even if you try to schedule, everyone is so busy. Kids have karate and 30 minutes later baseball and that's after school. It so much different from our childhood and we struggle to integrate into it.

Tade0 3y ago
When I first heard about play dates it reminded me of a scene in The Devil's Advocate where one of the wives of the lawyers said that whenever she wants to see her husband, she has to schedule an appointment.
qooiii2 3y ago
It's tough but doable. You have to get on people's calendars a week or two out whenever you can, and if you're lucky, it eventually turns into easy, low-stress, open-ended playdates. Meeting other parents is a huge effort, though! It's basically dating all over again. If your kids ride the school bus, that's a big help because you automatically meet nearby parents who are home in the afternoon. Otherwise, you have to go to lots of events and ask parents for their phone numbers, but the majority don't work out for random reasons.
- genocidicbunny 3y ago
  I think the parent is not so much complaining that it's doable, more that the concept of play dates as a thing at all is what's infuriating. I agree with this as well. When I was young, my parents knew the parents of maybe one or two of my friends, and that was only largely because they knew each other from somewhere else. We didn't need to have our parents organize and sync up their schedules to go play together. We'd just go and meet up. If no one was around outside, might go up and knock on the door of a few friends see if they wanted to do something. But ultimately, we had largely free reign to ourselves. Now, at a later age, I also really wouldn't want to have to get to know the parents of my kids' friends either. Meet once or twice to get to see them face-to-face, maybe get some basic contact info just in case, but for the most part, I don't really want my kids' social relationships to be based on how well I can get along with other parents (with a few small exceptions.)

Tade0 3y ago

When I first heard about play dates it reminded me of a scene in The Devil's Advocate where one of the wives of the lawyers said that whenever she wants to see her husband, she has to schedule an appointment.

qooiii2 3y ago

It's tough but doable. You have to get on people's calendars a week or two out whenever you can, and if you're lucky, it eventually turns into easy, low-stress, open-ended playdates. Meeting other parents is a huge effort, though! It's basically dating all over again. If your kids ride the school bus, that's a big help because you automatically meet nearby parents who are home in the afternoon. Otherwise, you have to go to lots of events and ask parents for their phone numbers, but the majority don't work out for random reasons.

genocidicbunny 3y ago
I think the parent is not so much complaining that it's doable, more that the concept of play dates as a thing at all is what's infuriating. I agree with this as well. When I was young, my parents knew the parents of maybe one or two of my friends, and that was only largely because they knew each other from somewhere else. We didn't need to have our parents organize and sync up their schedules to go play together. We'd just go and meet up. If no one was around outside, might go up and knock on the door of a few friends see if they wanted to do something. But ultimately, we had largely free reign to ourselves. Now, at a later age, I also really wouldn't want to have to get to know the parents of my kids' friends either. Meet once or twice to get to see them face-to-face, maybe get some basic contact info just in case, but for the most part, I don't really want my kids' social relationships to be based on how well I can get along with other parents (with a few small exceptions.)