Weird Thing #9 Be a playdate Mom Mooch

Also known as never hosting the playdate!  This maneuver is usually accomplished on email where subtleties of manners and good breeding can be masked as failure to communicate.  The correspondence usually begins as “let’s have a playdate” with no mention as to whom shall supervise, or where.  As the details are finalized (time, day) one mother (usually the one without the agenda) thinks to ask, “where are we doing this?”  The reply?  “I thought you were!”

Other Mom Mooch techniques involve repeated favors, “Can you watch Jonathan while I drive my little one to tap?” and the playdate extension: “Do you mind if I pick up later?”  To prevent this weird and all too common behavior, try using your kid as the human shield.  Insist that Tommy or Sandra is dying for a chance to play at Mom Mooch’s house and ask whether this fantasy can be met.  You’ll probably never hear from the other mom again but then again, she may have just been testing how far she could push you.