The play date isn’t going well.  They fight over toys.  One doesn’t want to play the other’s game.  It’s time for a change of venue.

When they were toddlers it was easy.  We chose parents we liked.  The kids played side-by-side while the adults drank tea and talked.  Now that they are old enough to play independently, sort of, the kids’ personal chemistry matters much more.

I take them to the park.  Still no one wants to play together.  I start a game of Daddy Monster, chasing them up the playground equipment before I can grab them and eat them.  Everyone is laughing now and having fun.  But they are playing with me, not with each other.

I don’t schedule a play date with this boy again.  He’s a good kid.  But for some reason he and Kubla always butt heads.  If we want to get together with his mom, we do it while the kids are at preschool.  It’s time for Kubla to choose his own playmates.

How do you choose your young one’s playmates? How often, and at what age, do you let them choose their own?

In two weeks I’ll give a free Kidorable Umbrella to whoever makes my favorite comment and shares this post on the platform of their choice.