The Blind Playdate

My 4-year-old daughter, Rachel, recently had her first playdate. I have been holding off since my oldest didn't have hers until she was 6 years old and in kindergarten. It just didn't seem fair parading Carmen's playdates in front of Rachel and not allowing her to have any. Well, I called one of her preschool friend's mom and set up a playdate. What was supposed to be a 3-minute conversation became a 19-minute one. I said we should meet at a playground. All of a sudden we're talking about going to some indoor play yard. I ask for directions to her playground and it takes her awhile to figure it out. After finally giving me the directions, she mentions playgrounds that might be closer to me, but she doesn't know the locations. I feel like screaming, "Come on, woman, can we just stick to one thing here?" She just seemed to keep getting sidetracked. The 19-minute conversation left me regretting setting the playdate, but it was done, and I think it's for my Rachel.
The day of the playdate arrives and we're meeting them at 10:30am. My daughter is so excited and asking every 15 minutes whether we're going yet. I tell her, "They're probably just waking up," and "They need time to eat breakfast." Appalled she says, "They didn't eat breakfast yet!!!" This is only because we've been up since 6:45am. Right after Rachel's playdate, I was planning to go out with my sisters. I wanted to dress up a little since I never get to. It was almost 10 o'clock. I was deciding what to wear still. Should I wear two different outfits for the day? I didn't feel like changing again and I didn't know if I'll have time anyway. I didn't want to wear make up for the playdate either, but for the sake of time I got all "dressed up" for my playdate. When I asked my daughter if it was too much, you should've seen the look on her face when she gave me a definite yes. She also said I looked too make-uppy. Her words, not mine. As I was driving, I knew I was probably too dressed up for a morning playdate and maybe felt a little self-conscious about it. Jokingly I put on sunglasses, and in the rearview mirror asked Rachel if it was better, she said yes and told me to keep it on. 4 years old and already embarrassed by her mother.

Well, we finally arrived, and no, I did not wear the sunglasses. To sum it up, Rachel had a great time and the mom wasn't so bad. Conversation was steady, even though it died down a little after the first hour. She seemed friendly enough. Will we do this again? Maybe, but not for at least another month. Afterward, I was thinking first playdates are almost like blind dates for moms. You've never met this person and questions undoubtedly will cross your mind. Will conversation be awkward? What will we talk about? What should I wear? Will I even like this person? Will it be a torturous 2 hours? It really wasn't so bad, and I found a great playground because of it. Did I mention the huge sand box? Totally worth it.