You know a question I’m not a fan of? “Can you please text my friend and ask her if she can come over?”
When texting first came out, it was the fast way to communicate. But texting today seems like such a chore to me, especially when I have to text my daughter’s parent’s friends to see if their kid can play with my kid. The coordination is, at times, exhausting.
Why Is This So Much Work For Me?
If I could pick up my house and move it to where all of my daughters’ friends were, I’d probably do that just to avoid texting the parents of my girls’ friends. My oldest daughter has been asking to play with a friend across town for about three weeks.
Each day I come home from work, and my girl asks, “Did you text her yet?” “Oh ya,” I say, “I forgot.” I lied the last five times. The first five times, it really did slip my mind, but the last five times I just didn’t want to do it.
When I text one of my daughters’ friend’s parents, I feel like I have to play a weird forced relationship.
“Hey! It’s your kid’s friend’s mom! Can your kid play with my kid? Yes? Great! Let’s not talk again until our kids beg us to again.”
And Now It Starts with My Second Child
My younger girl started school this year, so she is just starting to build relationships with her schoolmates.
I probably should be watering the friendship seeds she’s planting. I should be planning playdates for her with her little buddies. But I just don’t want to. It feels like so much work.
When a child is under six, playdates are also mom dates, and most of the time, I don’t want a mom date. Mom dates are just as awkward for me as any first date. I inevitably run out of things to talk to the mom about, and then we sit there staring at our children playing like they’re the season finale of our favorite TV show. Or, worse, I blabber about things that the mom has no interest in. I think I might portray myself as a bit neurotic when I get diarrhea mouth, and then the mom never calls again for another play date.
Occasionally, I Make Friends
It was such a relief when I clicked with my older girl’s best friend’s parents. Oh, it makes things so much easier! This kid is now my go to whenever my older girl wants a friend to play with. “You’d like a friend to play with? No worries, child. I will text the people I know I get along with and I know we will not have awkward moments!”
I started to worry that I don’t schedule enough play dates with my younger girl. Almost like an answer to my worry, we had a new neighbor move in next door, and they have a kid who is my younger girl’s age!
You know what that means? No texting to ask for a playdate and no awkward first mom date! I can just send my girl over to knock on the door herself! I’m crossing my fingers that the kid next door will be my girl’s new best friend.
