*Special thanks to all of the mamas who gave me permission to feature their sweet progenies in this post!
One thing I hugely miss about staying at home (while on maternity leave) is having regular play dates. Not being able to have regular play dates makes me sad on two accounts: 1) Baby Checkers does not have a group of friends she sees regularly throughout the week since she stays at home with my family; 2) by way of Number One, I also do not have a group of mom friends I see regularly throughout the week. Scheduling play dates on weekends can sometimes be a challenge since for many families (including my own), weekends are often set aside for special family time since it is really the only extensive amount of time during the week you have altogether.
Perhaps in some idyllic corner of my mind, I imagine stay-at-home moms pouring their hearts out over a cup of coffee while their sweet children run around, laugh and play. In reality, I know a majority of the time together may actually be spent on discipline, teaching, feeding, and making sure the kids do not rip each other to shreds or self-destruct. But seeing Baby Checkers interact with other children her age and having time to connect with other moms make my heart happy. Since this is important me, I have tried to be somewhat creative in my approach of organizing play dates.
– Early Evening Play Dates – My normal work hours are from 7:30 AM – 4:30 PM, so on most days I manage to get home close to 5 PM. My husband occasionally works evenings, so I try to plan my after-work play dates on nights when he is already out of the house so that I am not depriving him of daddy-daughter time. My friends and I take turns providing a kid-friendly dinner, or sometimes we will make it a potluck to ease the burden (or share the joy) of cooking.
I am extremely fortunate to have a number of friends nearby who are moms with children close to Baby Checkers’ age, many of whom I have known since college – pre-marriage, pre-baby, pre-life-as-we-know-it. I am grateful to be able to walk through this journey of motherhood with them.
Working moms: Do you have any tips for organizing play dates?
hostess / wonderful persimmon / 25556 posts
I have no tips as I have an 11 month old but am trying to use my local meetup group for working moms as a guide. There are a couple of kids around M’s age in our neighborhood so I do try to get M out to the park when I see them there. Right now playdates with those kids tend to be 5 minutes of adults standing around talking while the older kids pat M on the head and their parents say, “Be gentle!” LOL
And btw…Baby Checkers has the best faces.
blogger / pomelo / 5400 posts
“In reality, I know a majority of the time together may actually be spent on discipline, teaching, feeding, and making sure the kids do not rip each other to shreds or self-destruct.”
Yup. I often find playdates stressful for this reason. Maybe once LO is a bit older I’ll be able to relax a bit more, but right now it’s hard to hold an extended adult conversation while everyone is making sure the kiddos play nice.
grapefruit / 4671 posts
I used to attend a mums group while on mat leave and it was great, but since I went back to work I haven’t really seen any of them much. My doorman just told me that one of my neighbours has a 10 month old and my LO is 10.5 months so I might have to stalk them in hope of a playdate.
blogger / eggplant / 11551 posts
No advice, but I love all these pictures!! That one of L and A really do look like they are on a date, haha! Did you show that picture to his mama?
wonderful clementine / 24134 posts
I love this! It inspires me to do a date with a girl friend at 5 pm for dinner sometime. We could even do it all the way to bath time because that always makes it more fun!
pear / 1837 posts
@Mrs. Yoyo: My LO turned 2 a little over a month ago, and it’s really only been in the last month or so that we can semi-ignore the kids without someone or something exploding.
GOLD / wonderful pomegranate / 28905 posts
Thanks for this!! Play date: WOHM version!
blogger / persimmon / 1220 posts
@mediagirl: Thank you! She is very expressive (i.e. a HAM).
@Mrs. High Heels: I did!
@T.H.O.U.: GREAT idea! We’ve done this before and had all 3 girls (same age) in the bath. Time-saver!
guest
We have a regular babysitter for my 3 y.o. who comes 11-3 on Sundays. We use 2 hours of that to sched a playdate with a little girl who lives up the street. We pay double for those 2 hrs, the girl’s parents cover the difference. Win-win, babysitter is fab and has more energy to facilitate play and referee than we do, parents get to socialize or have time off.
persimmon / 1116 posts
The picture of the “date” at the table is too cute!! Love it.
blogger / pomelo / 5400 posts
@Lozza: good to hear that there’s hope!
hostess / wonderful honeydew / 32460 posts
Aww so much cuteness
PLay dates are so stressful now that I have 2! So stressful that I don’t schedule too many
honeydew / 7968 posts
Adorable! Did u know mrs. Hh irl before hb?
I need to go meet some momma friends….
blogger / persimmon / 1220 posts
@tequiero21: Yes! I have known @Mrs. High Heels: (and her husband) for 12 years!
blogger / eggplant / 11551 posts
@Mrs Checkers: yikes, its been that long already!
@tequiero21: we knew each other before marriage and before kids. we even knew each other before either of us started dating our husbands!
honeydew / 7968 posts
@Mrs Checkers: wow! I find those kinda facts so fun and interesting….
honeydew / 7968 posts
@Mrs. High Heels: that’s so awesome! And now u have hb to share!
blogger / persimmon / 1398 posts
I find that the impromptu playdates work best for us. Due to my Mini Michelangelo’s personality… we need to be able to change plans on a whim (usually because we are having a huge meltdown) I have a handful of friends who I can text at 4ish with “Pizza at my place?!” or “Picnic in the Park” We all “get” that the house will be trashed, there may be dishes in the sink (mostly here) but the kiddos get some decompress time and we Mamas get a little change of pace. It’s HARD when you work, or when your friends work. Or both! (And for the record, I have more playdates now then I did pre-work. I think it’s because they become a higher priority to actually “Make It Happen!”)