Solo Playdate
Boogie was invited for a play date on Tuesday. The mom who invited Boogie was very sweet and offered to give me a morning off. She invited Boogs to come over in the morning, she would feed him lunch, and then take him and her boys to school. I offered to pick up her boys from school at the end of the day and drop them off. The boys are identical twins that are in Boogie's class. They are very nice kids and they seem to like Boogie a lot. They get a long really well and I'm glad that Boogs has his own friends.
This was very weird for me to drop off Boogie for a play date. This was his first invited solo play date. I knew the mom, from picking up and dropping off our kids at school and chatting while we wait for the kids, and we did one play date together at the park. But other than that, she's still fairly new to me. I definitely like her and she seems really nice. Usually when I do a play date its with a really good friend of mine, usually someone I've known for years, and the mom usually sticks around because it's a play date for me, too. I get to catch up with a good friend while our kids run around and have fun. I should also add that most of my friends live anywhere from 30 min to 1 1/2 hours away so it's kind of silly to drop off the kids and then not stick around, whether I'm going to the play date or if I'm hosting.
So on Tuesday, I got the kids ready and I dropped off Boogie for a play date. I was a little nervous...you know...is he going to be polite? Will he play nicely? Will use the bathroom? Will he eat the food provided and be nice about it? How will he do without me to remind him of all these things? While I was mulling over these things on the drive, Boogie was excited to be seeing his best friends from school. When I parked the car in the driveway, he undid his seatbelt, opened the door, blew me a kiss, and said, "Bye, Mama!" He jumped out before I could even get out of my seat. He had no qualms about going solo for the play date. I still walked him to the house, made final arrangements with the other mom for pickup, and left him. It took all of 30 seconds. It was so weird!!!!
I ended up running errands and getting a ton of things done with Buggy. I was so grateful for the extra time and I figured since I was already up and out early in the morning, I would just get my errands done before putting Buggy down for a nap. I checked my phone periodically for a phone call, but none came. I finally relaxed when I knew that the boys were in school and the other mommy would have a break. When I dropped off the twins, the other mother said they would love to have Boogie over again. He was polite, well-mannered, and played well with her boys. Wow! That was really nice to hear.
I offered to have her boys over in the next few weeks. I always think it's easier to have other kids over because they occupy my kids. My kids are happy, having fun, and exhausted by the end of the day.
This little solo play date has shown me that Boogie and I are both growing up....I think we'll be just fine.