I Can't Believe I Forgot!

Miss E made everyone breakfast.

In yesterday's post I made a list of fun things we could do in the mornings to add a little fun to our remaining summer days.  I forgot one of the kid's favorite things - a play date!  We've been meaning to have friends over all summer, but with the exception of the neighbor kids we haven't actually set anything up.  Both girls have been asking when their friends could play, so I decided to get off my duff and invite someone over.  Fortunately, one of my friends is very understanding about my general flakiness and brought her little boy to play with little advance notice.  Mr. J is Miss M's age and they are like two peas in a pod.   Miss E is excited to have him here, too, because she likes being the big kid in the crowd.  They should have a great time today. 

Now that I think about it, it's really not that surprising that I didn't think to include play dates.  When I was a kid I lived on a farm that was 20 minutes from anywhere.  There was only one other girl my age nearby, and even she lived too far away to simply go to each other's houses whenever we liked.  I grew up playing with my sister and alone.  It's no wonder playing with a friend isn't the first thing that comes to mind when I think of summer fun.

I want my kids to have good friends though, and stronger social skills than I have.  I spent so much time alone, it was sometimes hard for me to know what to do in a group.  Plus, we don't live 20 minutes from anywhere.  Most of the girl's friends are less than 10 minutes away.  As they get older I know how important their friends will be - friends are generally more influential than parents in the teen years.  I want their bonds to be strong and I want to know their friends myself.  Right now I can have a lot of influence over their friendships because I have the power to approve play dates.  I need to exercise that by actually setting some up.  I hereby vow to invite more friends over for my kids sake now, and in the future.