Baby & Toddler

Asking another dad at the park to make Saturdays a regular thing, without it sounding odd

rose_pigeon_6633

Weekdays for my 2 year old are all structure: daycare, our work, dinner, bed. On weekends I'd like her to have some unplanned time with another child, not another paid class. There's a father I keep running into at the park near us on Saturday mornings. His son is about the same age, the two of them get along, and we've chatted a bit. I'd like to suggest making it a regular thing, but I don't know how to say that to a near-stranger without it sounding odd. In my head it comes out like I'm proposing a committee. How have others done this?

7 comments

  • lemon_kite_4432

    Talk about the time, not the friendship. 'We're usually here around 8 on Saturdays' is enough. If he wants to turn up, he will. If he doesn't, nobody has been rejected.

  • willow_window_9575

    I do this with my grandson's friend's grandfather. We started by sitting on the same bench without arranging anything. Now we keep each other's seats and the boys run around. Nobody ever made a plan, it just became the time.

  • jade_quilt_1800

    Related question, if that's alright. When it's two toddlers, how do you handle toys? My daughter is one and takes her things down to the play area and then won't let anyone else touch them. I'm not sure whether to bring fewer things or nothing at all.

    • moss_bottle_5383

      bring nothing they love. one ball, one bucket, and say from the start that it's for both. worked most days for my two when they were small. the favourite toy stays home

  • saffron_violin_8518

    fixed time, fixed spot. people turn up for a routine more easily than for an invitation

  • mellow_sparrow_8990

    mine is 3 months, so this is for later. my weekend company right now is the ceiling fan

  • citrus_bookmark_7662

    Think about what you'll do when the other family stops coming, because at some point they will. Decide now whether you'll still go. Our version of this fizzled after a few months. The habit of being out on Saturday mornings stayed, and that was the useful part.

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