To loathe and despise hosting "playdates"??

[MumblingAndBloodyRagDoll]

I hate it. I hate the term "Playdate" but it's what everyone calls it now...I hate that my ordinarily well behaved DD (7) turns into a monster....I hate the squashed food I find in corners of the house afterwards...I hate the hysteical sqeualing and the way my 3 year old tries to join in (even though they naturally dont want her)

I hate the way I can't relax....I'm always wondering what they're up to....are they in my makeup? trashing the bedrom?

I am sitting here thinking about whether AIBU to never have another until they're old enough to mooch miserably in their bedrooms and only grunt when I speak to them.

"Children need other children to play with, my grown up children have very happy memories of playing with their cousins, neighbours kids and school mates over the years.
I would hate to think they remembered their childhood with a mum who always said no to having friends over"

I agree. DD is an only child and there is nothing worse than "mum, I'm bored. I want someone to play with". I guess I have been lucky that none of DD's friends have ever trashed the house or are the sort to do so. I am strict about what they can and can't do and as it is my house and my rules I don't care if little Griselda doesn't like it. All our furniture has seen better days so I don't need to be precious about it, although I have had to stop the occasional child from jumping on it.

"Don't really understand what the big deal is - why would some of you dread these things and be so nervous about it? It's just children playing together, not some kind of test. It's important for them to play with other children as much as possible, just at school isn't enough, but it doesn't have to be micro-managed 'playdates' (yes it's a horrible term) arranged weeks in advance."

Same here. I have never used the term "playdate". It sounds too contrived. Also it wasn't around when DD was a toddler. She is 11 now and I love it when she has someone to play with because I can get on with things. I don't understand this "bah humbug" attitude.

I have 5 boys in the house at the moment, my 2, plus 3 friends. For the first hour the older ones played outside and younger ones inside. Gave them 'party lunch', ie. Burgers, crisps, juice, carrots, peppers and cucumber. They are now all playing with the toy soldiers upstairs. So far so good. I am hiding in the kitchen hoping not to hear any blood curdling screams!
I used to find playdates with pre schoolers quite hard work as it did need quite a lot of policing, but now they are 7 and 10 I can generally let them get on with it.
I try to encourage them to play with each other, rather than passively watching TV. But if they have all played together for several hours and things are beginning to fall apart then the screens do get switched on.

I must be lucky with my sons friends, because I like them all. He is an only child, so we have always had friends over and him go to his friends. They tend to just play nicely while I potter. The only part I am not so keen on is that for some reason I always feel like a bit of a spare part :) I like to see them having fun though and so far haven't had a need to be strict. I just hope my son behaves when he goes to others houses - they always say he's been good and he is generally pretty well behaved, but they all have their moments don't they. I have heard of children being completely different when their parents are not around though and after reading some of your posts I really am hoping he is not one of the kids people would class as 'horrible' or 'rude' :(