The other day I was sitting with two parents. One a mom with two born kids and one unborn one. And a dad of two: one older and one very new to the world. The three of us started talking about the shift in parenting and how when we were children, get-togethers were about the parents and the kids were pretty much forced to hang out. Now, the get-togethers are about the kids and the parents sit in silence. We also started talking about how calling it a ‘playdate’ is a stupid term. What’s that all about? Maybe they weren’t talking about that, but I was.

What I don’t really understand is why hangouts and get-togethers are called playdates once both parties have kids. To me a playdate is when my husband pretends he’s a pool boy and I pretend I’m a rich bored housewife. Just kidding, we don’t do that. But if we did, I would call it a Playdate or even better a Yaydate. Winky face – if you know what I mean.

Second of all, what is the point of a playdate? Is it supervised playtime? How are kids supposed to discover and learn from their own curiosity if mommy and/or daddy are there to influence all of the playtime?

When I was a kid, my parents would have their friends over, and they would bring their kids. The parents would be in one room and the kids would be forced to hang out with me in a totally separate part of the house. Some liked it I’m sure. But, as you can tell, I can be a lot to handle, so the ones who didn’t like me much just had to deal with their bad hand.

But seriously, why is it called a playdate? WHY???? Why isn’t it: we’re going to the Thompsons today. And what if you can’t stand the parents of the kid? Do you really have to be there? Don’t parents drop their kids off anymore while they enjoy their free time?

Also, at a playdate, is playtime structured or do the kids just entertain themselves? I hope it’s the latter. I don’t know this, because I’m not typically invited to playdates, and when I am (for some reason *cough *cough), I’m always sick.

The way I see it, if I ever have kids, I’m not going to go on playdates (except with Mr. O). I will show up at your house with a bottle of wine, and we will enjoy each others company while our kids either play together or separately. I don’t really care. It’s mommy’s time.