It’s popular in the blogosphere these days to hate on play dates – you know, those double dates between moms and kids, which, depending on your personality, are either super awkward or total lifesavers. I fall into the second camp. Here’s why.

When my four-year-old comes home from school and announces, “Mommy, let’s play!” I’m good for about 20 minutes. That’s how long I can pretend to be an evil queen, rebuild the same puzzle we made yesterday or play Candy Land with made up rules that she changes on the fly. Then I get itchy and start tidying up or trying to make dinner, never mind that it’s only 3:15pm. But my kid wants to play! And play she should. With another kid. Since she doesn’t have a sibling (yet), our best option is a play date.

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