The Other Kids... or, Why We Don't (usually) Do Play Dates
We're just about the only family I know who currently does not do:
-play dates with other kids
-group care such as Mother's Morning Out or Preschool
-organized sports- so far no dance classes, kiddie soccer, children's choir, etc.
You know, my kids aren't perfect. But, here's the deal. Not only are my kids not perfect, neither are anyone else's kids either. So it isn't that I don't want Nathan to play with Johnny because I think he'll corrupt my perfect little Nathan who never does anything wrong (we all know those Moms out there who really do think their kid is just perfect). Nathan (or any of my kids) certainly has his own particular set of bad habits. And Johnny has is own set of bad habits. It's my experience that kids don't generally influence each other for the good. What usually happens when Johnny and Nathan play together is that Nathan picks up Johnny's bad habits and Johnny goes home having picked up a few of Nathan's bad habits. Neither has really benefited from the time together.
This isn't to say that we never do play dates and will never do soccer, dance classes or Sunday School. Instead of play dates, we prefer getting together with another family so that we're all visiting together. Four sets of parental eyes on the children instead of just one has *got* to be better.
As for a Mother's Morning Out program, I just can't see that I would ever be okay with that. I've worked in day care enough to know that any kind of group care/preschool is just not for me. And really, what would I do with myself anyway? I guess the house would be super clean and the laundry perpetually caught up but otherwise I can't see the value in it. I have no intention of ever going back to teaching so I'd be at home, paying someone else to watch my kids- just doesn't make much common sense to me.
Organized sports- I've been really thinking about this a lot lately. Is it BEST for our kids to participate? I don't know the answer yet. I'm going to be talking to Kip about that soon and seeking the counsel of someone I admire on the this subject. Maybe I'll post my thoughts about it later when I've found an answer and more fully formed my opinion.
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