At what age would you feel comfortable letting your child go to a friend's house for a playdate without you if you were only acquaintances with the parents? For instance, to a school friend's house when you've met the parents a couple of times at school-related events but don't have an actual friendship with them. Until now, my child has only gone to the house of a friend alone if I've accompanied her the first time, or if we have a personal friendship with the parent. However, the last time we had this school friend over, her parents dropped her off (which we were fine with), but now I'm not sure what we'd be comfortable doing in the reverse situation.
-
I'd say well beyond trained- probably early elementary like 5/6/7.
-
My daughter is 6.5 and I don't feel comfortable with this. Only if I know the family will they be unsupervised with my her.....until....IDK....much later.
-
My son is 6.5 as well and there is no way I would feel comfortable leaving him with people we didn't "know."
Not only for him, but for the hosts too. I just wouldn't want them taking on that level of responsibility. Not that he is some special snowflake, but I feel like someone else's child is a different level of responsibility.
-
Hmm I don't know. My lo is 4.5 and it seems like I wouldn't be comfortable for a few years...but my parents were fairly overprotective and I know I had play dates on my own in kindergarten. I even remember leaving their house with friends' parents, like out to eat and going to an indoor pool
Of course when I was in kinder we didn't use any kind of boosters/car seats at that age so maybe it seemed like no big deal? Right now I can't fathom letting lo do that next school year. Maybe not even first grade - but I might be a tad nuts 
-
Thanks everyone! My daughter is going into 1st grade and was in class with this friend last year. The parents seem very nice and friendly, but my husband and I have only chatted with them a handful of times and never entered their home. They were comfortable dropping their daughter off for a play date at our house, so I'm not sure if they'll feel offended or uncomfortable if I wasn't ready to do the same. How would you address this situation? We don't mind hosting the daughter again but figure this is better addressed early on as they would probably realize that we never accept their offer to host.
-
There are a couple of school friends that I may have never been in their home, but we are FB friends, I see them at mutual friends birthday parties etc. I think now that she's into 1st grade I would * maybe * start being ok with it. But not just any random acquaintance.
What about inviting the parents/family over for dinner or drinks or something so you can at least get to know them better. Maybe after that they would reciprocate and invite you over?
-
I remember going to birthday parties in first grade where the parents just dropped all the kids off, and I remember visiting a friend prior to her birthday party and it was just us and her parents, so I guess most parents in my area were okay with it when we were 6??
-
Hmm...I did this 2x last year with DD1 who was almost 5y at the time? I saw the sets of parents everyday at drop-off, had talked with them at parent-only events a handful of times, and - in one case - had also met the grandmother and been to the mom's yoga studio
In both instances the parents made it clear I could stay if I wanted (or for however long I wanted to before leaving), so I got a chance to at least see their house, we talked about food preferences, etc. But it sounds like I'm in the minority
I will say that DD1 is a typical first-born -- very mature, follows rules, etc. I'd probably be a little more cautious with my crazy middle child, out of respect for the friend's parents. Ha.
Of course when I was in kinder we didn't use any kind of boosters/car seats at that age so maybe it seemed like no big deal? Right now I can't fathom letting lo do that next school year. Maybe not even first grade - but I might be a tad nuts 
In both instances the parents made it clear I could stay if I wanted (or for however long I wanted to before leaving), so I got a chance to at least see their house, we talked about food preferences, etc. Reply
Subscribe to our newsletter
- Google Plus
- Stumbleupon
- Twitter
- Facebook
- Pinterest
- Favorite0
8 comments