Whenever my 6 yr old sons friend comes over to play, am i supposed to feed him???

[Em308]

I don't mean juice and snacks if they're hungry, but i mean give him his dinner. They play quite regularly and i'm starting to get rather annoyed that he arrives and i never know when they're coming to collect him. In fact pretty much every time he comes here i have to take him when i've had enough of him. But also when my son goes there, they never bring him back and i have to go get him too. The thing is, the lack of arrangement is probably due to the fact he only lives 4 doors down the road. I'm normally a together kind of person, but i don't know how to handle this. I might seem a bit mean but i don't like the way they just leave him here and i have to decide if i have enough dinner to feed him or send him home. Sorry if i'm babbling, just getting a bit annoyed here!

Surely if he lives 4 doors away you can just say "It's teatime, time to go home!"

I would just send him home when it's tea time if you don't want to feed him

Just send him home, I'm sure he can manage to walk 4 doors away on his own.

no kids yet, but in my house as a child, when i had friends round my mum would just say "pussycat is getting her dinner now, time to go home"

and surely when your DS goes round there, you say "dinner will be at 6, can you send him back home then"

if its only 4 doors can the parents or you just let them walk down and you just watch them?

Why not say to the parents "can you collect him at xxx
just before tearing)

Unless he has been invited to tea, send him on his way when your son would sit down to eat.

You all make it sound so easy, but everytime there seems to be an issue. Last couple of times hes went there they've taken they to the park, then mcdonalds then it's been past 7 when i've eventually had to go get him - they seem to like holding on to my son! It seems as if i'm the only one who wants to make a set arrangement - they don't seem to bother their arse! Does it make me seem nasty if i don't want to feed him all the time??

If my DCs were just playing with the neighbours kids there wasn't really set arrangements.

Of course you don't have to feed him!

Just call to the parents, say 'We're about to sit down to dinner, look out for your DS out the front door as he's coming back to you now."
A 6 YO should be able to walk home 4 houses with your head popping out your door and his mum's/dad's out their door. And saying that, in a matter of fact way is unarguable. What are they going to say? "No feed him!"?

Sometimes, you could invite him around for dinner, and sometimes for 'just a play' so they know the difference.

We used to have a little girl who lived down the road who used to come to play a lot aged about 5/6, several time her parents just went out without telling me, once they didn't come home until the early hours by which time I had put her to bed and told them I would bring her back in the morning.

She also used to come in the mornings at weekends about 10ish in her PJ's and ask if she could have breakfast as her parents wern't up yet

So it coud be worse op! Though tbf I never minded, she was a lovely little thing.