...would like some impartial feedback and advice please.
DD and I were invited to join a group of my friends at a ticketed evening festival held in an enclosed section of a park. So that dd would have someone to play with, we invited one of her good school friends to come along. So far, so good....
Shortly after we arrived, we happened to see three families whose children are in dd (and her friend's) year at the same school. DD and her pal (call her E) were thrilled to see these other children, and before we knew it, they were all running around and larking about. So far, so good......
About an hour in, dd came to say that she couldn't find E, and had been looking for quite a while. I came to look and after a good half hour of searching with torches in the dark, we discovered E in a far away grove of trees 'having a talk' with one of the boys from school. I said to E that it wasn't right to disappear in that way because we had been concerned, and that now found, she needed to come out and play with dd and the group. The children all ran off, until.....
10 minutes later, dd came to me in tears saying E and the boy were running away from her, and once again, she couldn't find them. When they hadn't appeared within another 10 minutes (or so), dd and I began searching once again for E and the boy. The boy's father joined in. We searched for over an hour, until finally the boy's father found them 'hiding and talking' around the back of a building.
I was furious at E's behaviour, and concerned for dd. Neither of us had a nice evening, as most of it was spent looking for E.
How would you have handled it in the moment? Would you have said anything to E? Should I say something to her Mum (who is a fairly good friend of mine)? I'm still fuming at E's treatment of dd and quite frankly, me. I certainly hadn't intended to spend the evening comforting dd and searching for E.
BTW, dd, E and friends are 8 and 9 years old.
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I wouldn't go so far as to call the playdate a complete disaster, but....
54 replies
Earlybird · 12/09/2009 18:28
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