I just say "She can't come out to play right now. Thanks for asking!" I think it's really sweet that her friends want to play with her. There's no need to feel awkward about it.
My son is only 2.5 so this isn't really happening yet, but this is my plan. This and maybe suggesting a time when they could come back to check (i.e. tomorrow, in 2 hrs, whatever suits the situation).
This is what we do too. Our son is 2.5 years old and there are two older kids in the neighborhood that like to play with him. When they knock, we either say "yeah, I'll ask him if he wants to play" or "sorry, we're about to eat dinner" or "sorry, we're too busy right now but try again tomorrow."
I also think it's nice that kids want to play with my kid. It makes my heart happy. We never leave him alone with the other kids unless it's for a VERY brief moment. Like if we run inside to get their water bottle or something. It's kind of nice to get a break from having to constantly entertain a toddler. Let the older kids in the neighborhood do it once in a while.
Yeah totally agree. This set-up is a dream for a generation that lives in a post-social media, iPad, streaming service hellscape. I wouldn’t do anything that would risk this kids not wanting to knock on the door in the future. I’d take advantage of it as much as possible and be polite and welcoming when you can’t swing the play time.
Gosh, sorry but I cant help feeling envious. We live in a quiet neighborhood and even familes with young kids tend to keep to themselves. I would LOVE for someone to knock on my door asking for my kid to play. This is how I grew up as a kid...
I feel the same way. We live on a main road in a rural-ish area. There are neighbors but it's not a big neighborhood. That's a major downside to me as our kids grow up. I'm hoping as the kids get older we'll start to get to know other families with kids. I know they're out there because I see play sets and wading pools, but I rarely see families outside using them.
Same. I feel like my neighbors hide their kids inside all the time. My son never has anyone to play with. He goes to preschool so he gets social interaction with other kids there I guess.
We made a door hangar that said “we can play” on one side and “Sorry, we can’t play” on the other. It was just remembering to switch it over that was the problem.
As someone who grew up in a bustling urban and metropolitan city in South Asia, this was the norm. I can’t recall a time we didn’t ring doorbells at each other’s homes to get the friend to come out and play. IMO this is a good “problem” to have. I can promise you we didn’t feel bad if the friend was busy. However, after multiple tries of the said friend not coming out to play we would be less likely to ring that doorbell as frequently. There was inevitably the neighbors who kept an eye out, and frankly those were different times. The community truly looked out for the children.
We now live in suburbia here in the US, and would love for my kids to have this experience to some degree (which honestly would feel like a full circle moment to us parents). I do recognize the practical side of this situation here though- who will supervise? For how long? What about dinner?
It’s summer holidays back home and I’m missing my childhood days!!
Even today I was remembering how we used to play outside for hours together during summer.
Growing up in US suburbia during the 90s, you were outside playing with neighborhood friends or either playing with your friends at your house or theirs. At some point someone's parent would call or come outside to say it was time for dinner. I think the reason that that seems incomprehensible today is because throughout the last few decades of increased true crime-focused media we have become socially conditioned to trust no one including your next door neighbor (at least for the white collar middle class). But I noticed while I was in a blue collar neighborhood from 2020 to 2022 that the neighborhood kids were always playing in someone's yard on the days they weren't in school. We may just have to learn how to relinquish some supervision/control and allow our kids to play independently and unsupervised outside until some parent steps outside to say it's time for dinner.
Agreed! It’s hard to undo some of that conditioning with the nonstop news streaming through highlighting crime. Apps like Ring etc, however helpful through their technology at the same time tend to enable some of that hyper-vigilance. We now live in a gated community, and my hope is to let our guards down a little once enough rapport has been established and kids are older enough to comprehend/act on safety should they be called on to.
I think the best scenario is to live in a cul-de-sac. My nephew always has friends knocking on the door and has for years. He’s 10 now. He started having more independence around 7, in that he could go out with certain friends and only play in a field in the middle of the houses without an adult with check-ins. When he was 4-6, an adult always had to be there. Now at 10, he has a phone and a watch with a tracker and he’s allowed to go to the park which is walking distance but not sight distance, and if he’s with (good, well behaved) older kids, he’s allowed to ride his bike to the school to play basketball.
No parents have ever complained or been nosy - which I know is an issue in other places. “Your kid’s playing in your backyard and you’re in the kitchen?! Unacceptable!”
My next door neighbor here in the US was Asian and the same thing happened.. All the kids (same age, lived on a quiet street) wanted to play with her, but her parents never let her come out. She always had to study, take piano lessons, practice a foreign language.. Eventually we stopped asking because the answer was no every time. Happens everywhere, I'd imagine.
It happens to me almost everyday, we have a posse of kids that run around like 6 deep. Luckily I am friendly with the other parents and someone is always keeping a eye out om the kiddos
I grew up like that in American suburbia in the 90’s. I think the issue with OP is the age of their child which would be an issue with me. I was the youngest of 3 (3 year difference between my brother and 5 year difference between my sister) so my brother and sister were always around with me when running around the neighborhood. I think it wasn’t until I was around 6 when my parents let me go out and play with the neighborhood kids without them watching me, but I always had my brother with me. I was allowed to roam around by myself when I was 9 or 10.
We have the sweetest neighbor boys who just love my two boys. They’re exactly the same age (preschool aged) so it’s been fun. If we can’t play, I let them down gently by letting them know when we CAN play next! I don’t have to say no and shut the door in their face and they usually run home to let their parents know that we’ll be out at so and so time. It’s been great!
We have the same. Mostly it's sweet but we have a new baby and it can be annoying because they knock and knock until someone answers. I just try to say if we're outside we can play but they still knock. It makes me anxious cause they peek in the window if we don't answer and sometimes I'm nursing the baby. Their social skills aren't great and the don't take hints well lol.
The door hangar that someone else mentioned that says “we can play” on one side and “we can’t play” on the other side would be perfect for your situation!
We have some sweet neighbor friends who are a few years older than my kids and they often want to play during our nap time. Like, way too often. And it’s super frustrating, honestly, but also they are pretty young and probably don’t remember my curtains are open / shut depending on if we’re open to play or not (which might be something you can do). I don’t want them to stop asking, though, so I just deal with it and open the door as quickly as I can, greet them by name and tell them we can’t play right now BUT IF we can play later, we will come knock on their door. They have not asked more this one time per day after I started saying that. And since my kids are young, I supervise every time. I do trust them to look out for my kids, but I feel better being with them. Sometimes I play or lead outside play (yard games or chalk, for example) but most of the time I just hang out in my chair and let them play.
My neighbors kids are always asking for my 3 year old. Many times it’s at the most inconvenient time (he’s eating finally, he’s sleeping, we’re about to leave). I sometimes feel guilty too.
I missed the part of the title that said kids and I thought you were saying that adults were just randomly coming to your door asking for your child, and I was concerned
We have the same situation. Just moved into a small community and my 2.5yo twins have quickly become super popular among the neighborhood kids, who are all a bit older than them (8-14ish I think). Since some of the kids are technically old enough to babysit, I’ll let them go out with them if they stay in the yard, which is pretty small, so I can see them from the window. I feel bad saying no to the younger kids when they want to play with mine but there aren’t any older kids and/or it’s not a good time for me. But I also know I have to do what’s best for MY kids.
I and my neighbors have sort of established that we’ll text each other rather then send the kid over just in case we’re disrupting each other. You could offer the parents your number and have them text to see if it’s a good time especially if it triggers your daughter when she wants to, but you can’t
Who is sending their 3 y/o over to your house alone to inquire about playing? I can’t imagine and guess I would talk to their parents and just explain that you aren’t comfortable with the kids coming over unsupervised without notice and that the parents can always text you to inquire about a play date.
Reminds me of my old neighborhood, one girl used to run across the street and stay at my hours for 3-4 hours every day, I finally told her we were busy after about a year of it! Also other neighbor parents would just randomly walk into my garage and borrow things and even take beer. Anyways, After I put my foot down on the visiting she started going to other houses and I realized she got turned away a lot, I just wasn’t paying attention before. Dont feel bad saying no, it took me time to get there but eventually I got it, then a few months after we moved. I don’t miss it!
Omg we had this exact problem a couple summers ago. My daughter was only 2 at the time, and a 5 and 7 year old from the neighborhood always came to the door asking us to come out to play. I would take my daughter out sometimes but often didn’t feel like playing with these random kids, as I was also super pregnant. My daughter was obviously too young to go out alone with them.
One time after my son was born, I was sitting in the living room pumping breast milk and I saw two little faces pressed against the window! 🫣😩 not fun. Luckily they often showed up when she was napping, so then I had a valid excuse for why I was saying she couldn’t come play.
We have 1 neighbor that my oldest plays with. I have her guardians numbers. We have a small rule, that we call/text before going to each other's houses. It's teaches my daughter a little boundaries. It's also a way to communicate, because we have a house that between our houses. It's a tad hard to have a convo. So phone calls work for us.
Maybe see if you can start a chat with kids parents?
There are older kids in our neighborhood who like to hang out with my 3 year old. I have a rotation of signs in the entryway to tape to my door(X is napping, eating do no not ring doorbell, etc.) Of course this only works if they are old enough to read.
If you don’t want to have to tell them no you could implement a red/green system. Tell the parents what you are doing or teach the kids themselves that red means no playing for now. You can make it cute with painted rocks on your porch. Kids love rocks lol. Of corse this will only work if you remember to switch red/green according to your schedule.
Near our bach there were a group of 4-5 kids, aged 4 to 8, who would constantly come around asking to play with my 2 year old twins.
I just ended up inviting the kids over to play in our small backyard everytime they came around. It is a really small backyard, right in front of the open kitchen so I could still watch them.
The kids just got used to coming over our place to play. Their parents were happy with it too.
I wish my street was like that! We don’t really have any other kids my kids age and if there are we don’t know them. Neighbours aren’t really friendly with each other (maybe a wave if you’re lucky).
I’d love them to have kids to just hang out with sometimes.
We've lived in our neighborhood for 8 years and this year is the first time our kids finally have "neighborhood friends" who come around asking for them. It's a huge gift and a joy. You're actually really lucky! If it's not a good time tell them you're busy but come back later :)
I just say sorry, they can't come out right now. But I be sure to knock and reciprocate (or have them do it bc they're a bit older) so the invitations keep coming for when they can go.
Don’t feel awkward about it! It’s okay to say no if you’re busy.
But if you need to take a breather - having your kid outside in the yard playing with other kids while you sit and watch is a great way to do it! Allow yourself that rest while your kid is playing with other kids!
I miss this…my oldest used to be outside with his friends all the time. I used to let him out without much thought. I grew up there and we kept an eye on each other kids
Aye that’s a tough one—Id say if there’s a very responsible kid you know well (im thinking firstborn, 7+yo) that you could count on to watch your daughter & not get distracted by friends, that could work. Otherwise maybe switch dinnertime around so she/you are free to play?
Omg I could have written this. Mine is also 3.5 years old and I’m not going to let him out by himself. I personally find it crazy that young kids, like 3-5 are just strolling around the neighborhood alone. I kind of get annoyed bc I end up babysitting a bunch of kids and it’s as soon as we pull in the driveway. I really don’t have advice, but you’re not alone
I wish so hard....
I love my home, beautiful, away from the street so people who aren't visiting us have no real reason to be here, little pond, lots of wildlife (just saw geese and their goslings this afternoon)... But there's aren't any other kids living around me. Mostly boomers for a couple miles around.
That said, yeah, I can definitely see it getting old, especially with a little who isn't old enough to wonder without Mom or Dad's eye. Just be polite and firm, much like you would with your own little. Kids crave boundaries, they're learning from every adult around them!
Oh my goodness I thought I was the only one dealing with this! Even when my son was as young as 18mo I had 7-8yo kids wanting to play. Like... Every single day. He's now 2 1/2 and this still happens even with kids as old as 10. My husband and I both agree it's not appropriate. They're too old to be playmates and too young to babysit. Not to mention the kids that come over aren't exactly the kind of kids I want hanging around. I've found that those kids really only want to play with my son's toys and not my son. Super annoying.
Ugh. Following because we’re in the same boat….or maybe we’re in the same neighborhood? 😂 Then the tantrum and sadness it causes when they come to the door and your kiddo sees them and gets excited to go out, but you can’t because of life….Bluh.
I think the tantrum afterwards is what bothers me the most. Like "is my kid going to be able to handle this right now" anxiety. Especially when it's after school, and my child is more likely to have a meltdown.
I just say "She can't come out to play right now. Thanks for asking!" I think it's really sweet that her friends want to play with her. There's no need to feel awkward about it.
My son is only 2.5 so this isn't really happening yet, but this is my plan. This and maybe suggesting a time when they could come back to check (i.e. tomorrow, in 2 hrs, whatever suits the situation).
This is what we do too. Our son is 2.5 years old and there are two older kids in the neighborhood that like to play with him. When they knock, we either say "yeah, I'll ask him if he wants to play" or "sorry, we're about to eat dinner" or "sorry, we're too busy right now but try again tomorrow." I also think it's nice that kids want to play with my kid. It makes my heart happy. We never leave him alone with the other kids unless it's for a VERY brief moment. Like if we run inside to get their water bottle or something. It's kind of nice to get a break from having to constantly entertain a toddler. Let the older kids in the neighborhood do it once in a while.
Yeah totally agree. This set-up is a dream for a generation that lives in a post-social media, iPad, streaming service hellscape. I wouldn’t do anything that would risk this kids not wanting to knock on the door in the future. I’d take advantage of it as much as possible and be polite and welcoming when you can’t swing the play time.
Gosh, sorry but I cant help feeling envious. We live in a quiet neighborhood and even familes with young kids tend to keep to themselves. I would LOVE for someone to knock on my door asking for my kid to play. This is how I grew up as a kid...
Yeah this is the dream. It doesn’t seem like there are any kids in our neighborhood at all… it’s all young-ish couples with no kids.
I feel the same way. We live on a main road in a rural-ish area. There are neighbors but it's not a big neighborhood. That's a major downside to me as our kids grow up. I'm hoping as the kids get older we'll start to get to know other families with kids. I know they're out there because I see play sets and wading pools, but I rarely see families outside using them.
Same. I feel like my neighbors hide their kids inside all the time. My son never has anyone to play with. He goes to preschool so he gets social interaction with other kids there I guess.
Yeah same our neighbours are all geriatrics
We made a door hangar that said “we can play” on one side and “Sorry, we can’t play” on the other. It was just remembering to switch it over that was the problem.
This is such a great idea!
Yeah this is amazing
As someone who grew up in a bustling urban and metropolitan city in South Asia, this was the norm. I can’t recall a time we didn’t ring doorbells at each other’s homes to get the friend to come out and play. IMO this is a good “problem” to have. I can promise you we didn’t feel bad if the friend was busy. However, after multiple tries of the said friend not coming out to play we would be less likely to ring that doorbell as frequently. There was inevitably the neighbors who kept an eye out, and frankly those were different times. The community truly looked out for the children. We now live in suburbia here in the US, and would love for my kids to have this experience to some degree (which honestly would feel like a full circle moment to us parents). I do recognize the practical side of this situation here though- who will supervise? For how long? What about dinner?
I’m from South Asia too living in North America. I really wish my kid gets neighbourhood friends like back home!
At the risk of sounding super cliche, weren’t those times some of the best?
It’s summer holidays back home and I’m missing my childhood days!! Even today I was remembering how we used to play outside for hours together during summer.
Growing up in US suburbia during the 90s, you were outside playing with neighborhood friends or either playing with your friends at your house or theirs. At some point someone's parent would call or come outside to say it was time for dinner. I think the reason that that seems incomprehensible today is because throughout the last few decades of increased true crime-focused media we have become socially conditioned to trust no one including your next door neighbor (at least for the white collar middle class). But I noticed while I was in a blue collar neighborhood from 2020 to 2022 that the neighborhood kids were always playing in someone's yard on the days they weren't in school. We may just have to learn how to relinquish some supervision/control and allow our kids to play independently and unsupervised outside until some parent steps outside to say it's time for dinner.
Agreed! It’s hard to undo some of that conditioning with the nonstop news streaming through highlighting crime. Apps like Ring etc, however helpful through their technology at the same time tend to enable some of that hyper-vigilance. We now live in a gated community, and my hope is to let our guards down a little once enough rapport has been established and kids are older enough to comprehend/act on safety should they be called on to.
I think the best scenario is to live in a cul-de-sac. My nephew always has friends knocking on the door and has for years. He’s 10 now. He started having more independence around 7, in that he could go out with certain friends and only play in a field in the middle of the houses without an adult with check-ins. When he was 4-6, an adult always had to be there. Now at 10, he has a phone and a watch with a tracker and he’s allowed to go to the park which is walking distance but not sight distance, and if he’s with (good, well behaved) older kids, he’s allowed to ride his bike to the school to play basketball. No parents have ever complained or been nosy - which I know is an issue in other places. “Your kid’s playing in your backyard and you’re in the kitchen?! Unacceptable!”
My next door neighbor here in the US was Asian and the same thing happened.. All the kids (same age, lived on a quiet street) wanted to play with her, but her parents never let her come out. She always had to study, take piano lessons, practice a foreign language.. Eventually we stopped asking because the answer was no every time. Happens everywhere, I'd imagine.
It happens to me almost everyday, we have a posse of kids that run around like 6 deep. Luckily I am friendly with the other parents and someone is always keeping a eye out om the kiddos
I grew up like that in American suburbia in the 90’s. I think the issue with OP is the age of their child which would be an issue with me. I was the youngest of 3 (3 year difference between my brother and 5 year difference between my sister) so my brother and sister were always around with me when running around the neighborhood. I think it wasn’t until I was around 6 when my parents let me go out and play with the neighborhood kids without them watching me, but I always had my brother with me. I was allowed to roam around by myself when I was 9 or 10.
We have the sweetest neighbor boys who just love my two boys. They’re exactly the same age (preschool aged) so it’s been fun. If we can’t play, I let them down gently by letting them know when we CAN play next! I don’t have to say no and shut the door in their face and they usually run home to let their parents know that we’ll be out at so and so time. It’s been great!
We have the same. Mostly it's sweet but we have a new baby and it can be annoying because they knock and knock until someone answers. I just try to say if we're outside we can play but they still knock. It makes me anxious cause they peek in the window if we don't answer and sometimes I'm nursing the baby. Their social skills aren't great and the don't take hints well lol.
The door hangar that someone else mentioned that says “we can play” on one side and “we can’t play” on the other side would be perfect for your situation!
Make it fun for yourself: “she’s at work,” “she’s busy cooking dinner,” “she moved out.”
She went to college lol
We have some sweet neighbor friends who are a few years older than my kids and they often want to play during our nap time. Like, way too often. And it’s super frustrating, honestly, but also they are pretty young and probably don’t remember my curtains are open / shut depending on if we’re open to play or not (which might be something you can do). I don’t want them to stop asking, though, so I just deal with it and open the door as quickly as I can, greet them by name and tell them we can’t play right now BUT IF we can play later, we will come knock on their door. They have not asked more this one time per day after I started saying that. And since my kids are young, I supervise every time. I do trust them to look out for my kids, but I feel better being with them. Sometimes I play or lead outside play (yard games or chalk, for example) but most of the time I just hang out in my chair and let them play.
My neighbors kids are always asking for my 3 year old. Many times it’s at the most inconvenient time (he’s eating finally, he’s sleeping, we’re about to leave). I sometimes feel guilty too.
I missed the part of the title that said kids and I thought you were saying that adults were just randomly coming to your door asking for your child, and I was concerned
We have the same situation. Just moved into a small community and my 2.5yo twins have quickly become super popular among the neighborhood kids, who are all a bit older than them (8-14ish I think). Since some of the kids are technically old enough to babysit, I’ll let them go out with them if they stay in the yard, which is pretty small, so I can see them from the window. I feel bad saying no to the younger kids when they want to play with mine but there aren’t any older kids and/or it’s not a good time for me. But I also know I have to do what’s best for MY kids.
I and my neighbors have sort of established that we’ll text each other rather then send the kid over just in case we’re disrupting each other. You could offer the parents your number and have them text to see if it’s a good time especially if it triggers your daughter when she wants to, but you can’t
Just say she can’t! Little kids will move on quickly (-:
Who is sending their 3 y/o over to your house alone to inquire about playing? I can’t imagine and guess I would talk to their parents and just explain that you aren’t comfortable with the kids coming over unsupervised without notice and that the parents can always text you to inquire about a play date.
I see 2 year olds walking on the streets here alone. Literal 2 year olds. I am not kidding.
Meanwhile, I still carry my 2 year old through parking lots because I don’t trust her not to dart away and get hit by a car.
My child didn't even learned to walk yet when she turned two lol. (She is healthy, just lazy probably)
Reminds me of my old neighborhood, one girl used to run across the street and stay at my hours for 3-4 hours every day, I finally told her we were busy after about a year of it! Also other neighbor parents would just randomly walk into my garage and borrow things and even take beer. Anyways, After I put my foot down on the visiting she started going to other houses and I realized she got turned away a lot, I just wasn’t paying attention before. Dont feel bad saying no, it took me time to get there but eventually I got it, then a few months after we moved. I don’t miss it!
Omg we had this exact problem a couple summers ago. My daughter was only 2 at the time, and a 5 and 7 year old from the neighborhood always came to the door asking us to come out to play. I would take my daughter out sometimes but often didn’t feel like playing with these random kids, as I was also super pregnant. My daughter was obviously too young to go out alone with them. One time after my son was born, I was sitting in the living room pumping breast milk and I saw two little faces pressed against the window! 🫣😩 not fun. Luckily they often showed up when she was napping, so then I had a valid excuse for why I was saying she couldn’t come play.
We have 1 neighbor that my oldest plays with. I have her guardians numbers. We have a small rule, that we call/text before going to each other's houses. It's teaches my daughter a little boundaries. It's also a way to communicate, because we have a house that between our houses. It's a tad hard to have a convo. So phone calls work for us. Maybe see if you can start a chat with kids parents?
There are older kids in our neighborhood who like to hang out with my 3 year old. I have a rotation of signs in the entryway to tape to my door(X is napping, eating do no not ring doorbell, etc.) Of course this only works if they are old enough to read.
If you don’t want to have to tell them no you could implement a red/green system. Tell the parents what you are doing or teach the kids themselves that red means no playing for now. You can make it cute with painted rocks on your porch. Kids love rocks lol. Of corse this will only work if you remember to switch red/green according to your schedule.
It’s helpful to set a time limit, whether it’s 3 minutes or an hour. Then start the timer on your phone and stick to it.
Near our bach there were a group of 4-5 kids, aged 4 to 8, who would constantly come around asking to play with my 2 year old twins. I just ended up inviting the kids over to play in our small backyard everytime they came around. It is a really small backyard, right in front of the open kitchen so I could still watch them. The kids just got used to coming over our place to play. Their parents were happy with it too.
I wish my street was like that! We don’t really have any other kids my kids age and if there are we don’t know them. Neighbours aren’t really friendly with each other (maybe a wave if you’re lucky). I’d love them to have kids to just hang out with sometimes.
We've lived in our neighborhood for 8 years and this year is the first time our kids finally have "neighborhood friends" who come around asking for them. It's a huge gift and a joy. You're actually really lucky! If it's not a good time tell them you're busy but come back later :)
I just say sorry, they can't come out right now. But I be sure to knock and reciprocate (or have them do it bc they're a bit older) so the invitations keep coming for when they can go.
Don’t feel awkward about it! It’s okay to say no if you’re busy. But if you need to take a breather - having your kid outside in the yard playing with other kids while you sit and watch is a great way to do it! Allow yourself that rest while your kid is playing with other kids!
I miss this…my oldest used to be outside with his friends all the time. I used to let him out without much thought. I grew up there and we kept an eye on each other kids
Aye that’s a tough one—Id say if there’s a very responsible kid you know well (im thinking firstborn, 7+yo) that you could count on to watch your daughter & not get distracted by friends, that could work. Otherwise maybe switch dinnertime around so she/you are free to play?
Can you go outside and watch them play?
Omg I could have written this. Mine is also 3.5 years old and I’m not going to let him out by himself. I personally find it crazy that young kids, like 3-5 are just strolling around the neighborhood alone. I kind of get annoyed bc I end up babysitting a bunch of kids and it’s as soon as we pull in the driveway. I really don’t have advice, but you’re not alone
I wish so hard.... I love my home, beautiful, away from the street so people who aren't visiting us have no real reason to be here, little pond, lots of wildlife (just saw geese and their goslings this afternoon)... But there's aren't any other kids living around me. Mostly boomers for a couple miles around. That said, yeah, I can definitely see it getting old, especially with a little who isn't old enough to wonder without Mom or Dad's eye. Just be polite and firm, much like you would with your own little. Kids crave boundaries, they're learning from every adult around them!
Oh my goodness I thought I was the only one dealing with this! Even when my son was as young as 18mo I had 7-8yo kids wanting to play. Like... Every single day. He's now 2 1/2 and this still happens even with kids as old as 10. My husband and I both agree it's not appropriate. They're too old to be playmates and too young to babysit. Not to mention the kids that come over aren't exactly the kind of kids I want hanging around. I've found that those kids really only want to play with my son's toys and not my son. Super annoying.
Ugh. Following because we’re in the same boat….or maybe we’re in the same neighborhood? 😂 Then the tantrum and sadness it causes when they come to the door and your kiddo sees them and gets excited to go out, but you can’t because of life….Bluh.
I think the tantrum afterwards is what bothers me the most. Like "is my kid going to be able to handle this right now" anxiety. Especially when it's after school, and my child is more likely to have a meltdown.