While playdates look a lot different for mums now, you can guarantee the same outcome when you do decide to arrange one. Now, they are less about soft plays and kid friendly cafes and more about park bench chats and walks at a 2 metre distance, but even so, the same things still crop up when you try to have a successful get together with a friend and your kids. Here are a few things you might find all too familiar.
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You can’t finish a conversation: Children have a knack of interrupting you when you’re trying to get something off your chest, so if you want to have a heart to heart, better to call each other when your little ones have gone to sleep because you will never be allowed to finish a sentence while your little one is with you. Better to stick with the quick wins like 'how are you?' and 'how long did it take you to get here?'
You can’t make eye contact with one another while talking: Because you always have one eye on your child, anticipating their next accident, whether that is falling off the climbing frame or tripping over their own feet when they run off into the distance. But it’s ok- there is a mutual understanding that you aren’t being rude, just trying to keep your little one alive and safe. Only mothers get this- and it takes a while to perfect this particular gift.
You end every play date with- ‘we must meet up for a girl’s night’: Which roughly translated means to have a get together sans children and with wine so you can have a worthwhile chat that doesn’t involve wiping someone’s nose while telling your friend what's new with you.
You share food: It’s always the case that whatever you bring will appeal to each other’s children so you have a game of ‘swap the snack’ and between you there is enough to go around to keep everyone happy.
You moan about motherhood: This is a given because not all your friends will be mothers, so when you do meet up with someone who understands your world, you have a good old winge because you know she will understand exactly where you are coming from.
You moan about your partners: About how they don’t help, take initiative, give you enough alone time, don’t defend you against their mothers etc, etc, etc. Such digs can be slipped in between utterances like ‘get down from there’ and ‘no you can’t have more chocolate’ and it feels really good to get them off your chest.
You always feel a million dollars afterwards: While you probably haven’t discussed everything you wanted to and your child has made a scene at least once- you are always grateful that you made the effort and found the time. There is no feeling like meeting up with a mum friend even in such strange circumstances we find ourselves in today. Just sitting across from your mate in a park, eating leftover toddler snacks and having a rant makes you feel wonderful afterwards because nothing compares to the bond between mother friends.
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Alexa, count to…: Depending on where your toddler is at in their counting journey, you can ask Alexa to count from zero to a specific number of your choice and encourage your little one to count along with her. Our daughter keeps missing out the number 16, so this is helping her to remember it because we utilise this function each night at the dinner table to help her practise. If you do this once every day, and keep building it up to the next ten numbers, it will support their learning in nursery and set them up well for school...
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