When a playdate goes wrong
So, you’ve done your research, you have chatted with parents, and you’ve hosted your first-ever play date, which as most parents know can be a pretty nerve-wracking experience.
You’ve ticked the boxes and even gone as far as to plan a special outing, activity, or snack for the kids. But what happens when things go wrong?
Fighting
In most instances, fighting can happen when the excitement wears off and the playdate goes a little longer than anticipated. If you’re close by, or in the next room and catch it before it gets out of hand, you might be able to provide a quick distraction from the niggles.
If things get more out of hand than you would like, try stepping in with helpful tips.
For example, if the children start to argue over whose turn it is to do something or play with something in particular, open up a conversation over the time spent with that toy and sharing. If the children can’t agree on a compromise, try retiring that toy and giving another toy the chance to be shared. After all, if we as people have to share things, toys should share us too.
Biting
For younger children, communication can be a big problem. And yes, the ‘gone wrong’ can sometimes be a bite or agression from another child. If this happens, it’s good to know the causes behind the aggression - but dealing with it can be tricky, especially if the child being aggressive is not yours.
Next steps to take:
- Ensure the ‘victim’ is OK
- Explain to the aggressor that biting/hitting is hurtful and not OK
- Remove the child from the situation to alleviate frustration
- Encourage the aggressor to apologise to the victim and comfort them
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Injuries
There are times when children get hurt and sometimes, it’s completely out of your control. Take all reasonable steps to ensure that any serious injuries or accidents don’t occur – for example, ensuring pools are secured and small objects are not in reach. Make sure children cannot access poisons and baby gates are placed to clearly mark out-of-bounds areas. Make sure you discuss emergency care to the child’s parent for example, what steps should you take in case of an emergency.
In case of emergency
When things go wrong, it's easy to become frazzled and not think straight therefore, it's good to have a list of emergency contact numbers clearly posted up in your house. The main one is obvious, 000 for Police, Fire and Ambulance but have you thought about:
- Child's parent/guardian
- Local GP
- Poisons information 131126
Parental involvement
Depending on the incident, in most cases, small things won't matter. You might like to mention them in passing, particularly if you've had to tell their child off but for fighting and general upsets, it might not even be worth mentioning.
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