Parents are some of the strongest people in the world. However, I have not met a single parent that was not at least a little nervous when hosting their child’s play date. If you’re reading this, you’re probably one of these parents. So, just the like the title says, here are 5 tips to your child’s first playdate.

Find out more about your child’s play date

Getting to know your child’s play date and their mannerisms can help you make the appropriate preparations as well as alleviate some stress. You can be making some delicious peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to impress your guest and next thing you know you have to explain to the kid’s parent why they have to pick up their child at the hospital. Now that’s a bit exaggerated but you get the point. Most parents will let you know in advance of things you should know about but to be safe I like to always ask them basic information such as personality, dietary concerns, allergies, etc.

Make sure your child knows proper manners

Believe it or not your child’s not the angel you think they are. If you think you can predict your child’s behavior based on how they act around you, you are in for a world of surprise. As a child, my cousin would act as a saint in front of his parents. Never cursing, always cleaning up after himself. You would not guess that he was bullying kids for their Pokémon cards at school. My point is, no matter how great your child is, teach them proper manners and how to act in front of others, and especially how to respect others’ property.

Create a child-friendly environment

Guys, clean up your dirty socks off the living room couch and ladies please make sure your nail polish remover is not on the TV stand. Your home is now going to become a jungle for children and 2 kids are already dangerous enough on their own.

Routine check ups

This is tip pretty self-explanatory. As you already know, children tend to be pretty reckless on their own so imagine if there are multiple. I like to check up on them every 15 minutes and I would check in more often if there were more children.

Relax and have fun

Take a breather and remember this is a huge step in not just your child’s life but your own as well. If you’re nervous just think of past experiences of the first time you did something. Your first time riding a bike may have been scary but you’re a pro now! This will be the first play date of many so have a seat and relax.

As a parent of young children, it may be difficult for your child to make friends to begin, especially if they are not yet in school. If you want them to begin socializing early, I would recommend putting them in day care. After all, that’s where a lot of us met our first friends. If you’re not sure whether or not to register long-term with a day care you can check out our app Kinderdrop! There you can make short-term bookings with ease at day cares near you to see if you want to enroll your child long-term.