I have a “no TV during playdates” rule.  If our kids go to your house, no problem – your rules – whatever keeps you sane.  At our house, which is otherwise too heavy with TV anyway, my philosophy is that playdates are for playing and talking to each other rather than staring at the screen.  Note: this does not apply when we are having your friends’ parents over for dinner and you are making us all crazy and we just want to enjoy our conversation in peace.

That was my philosphy until yesterday.  In Brookline, when we invite someone over for a playdate it’s usually something like 2pm til 4:30 or 5pm.  It seems to be the norm at home – a good couple of hours playing, then separate them before they kill each other and get them home in time for dinner, homework, shower and bed.

So H had her friend over the other day, they had already played over two hours in the pool when her friend’s parents called and said they would pick her up between 6 and 7pm! On a school night. They did not have a special situation – apparently this is quite the norm for a Mexican playdate duration – 5 hours. There are very few people I would want to spend 5 hours straight with without any kind of break (except for you!). The “can we watch TV?” question came and I immediately said yes.  I justified it that they had tons of physical activity and needed some downtime, but there’s only so much pool time, arts & crafts, and cooking I can do.  I think I’m going to adjust my TV philosophy a bit while I’m here.  Plus it’s really cute watching little girls bond over High School Musical.