Martha and Alyssa have kids in the same class who like each other and repeatedly request play dates. Repeatedly being the key word, because the play dates have never happened.
You see, while the kids are great friends, the parents are not. Martha is very type A and structured, while Alyssa kind of makes it up as she goes along. While serving on a volunteer committee together, the clashed more than they connected.
But… the kids like each other and want to spend time out of class together. Which means the moms need to find a way to be civil and communicate. Should these moms try to put their differences aside and let their kids hang out? Or is it reasonable to assume that if another person’s personal style, and by way of association parenting style, ruffles you so much, it is reasonable to quarantine your child from that family?
NPR recently quoted a study that 70 percent of kids don’t listen to their parents “in areas that they perceive to fall within their personal domain” such as picking their own friends.
So, what would you do? Meddle in your kids friendships or keep your opinions to yourself?
One Comment
I think it is a good lesson to teach kids to behave yourself particularly when it is hard. If we were or are in the work place you meet all sorts of people you may or may not get along with also in school. If you absolutely cannot talk to someone civilly and set a good example maybe you should avoid play dates but really I think you should be able to suck it up for a while so that your child will feel that their feelings are important. I didn’t really have friends as a child so I think it is important to encourage strong relationships while young-sorry folks don’t feel like fixin’ the grammar