New Patch Column Up!

[gnomi]

In today's Brookline Parent column, mabfan discusses how we try to give Muffin and Squeaker opportunities to socialize through playmates. Click to read Occupy Playdates.

Comments

[autotruezone.livejournal.com]

Care to expound on the origin of the term "playdate"? It certainly didn't exist when I was a kid in the 70's, and I never particularly liked it (even though I can appreciate its usefulness).

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

I'm not overly fond of the term, either, but it seems to be here to stay.

The OED has this to say about "play date":

A social engagement arranged so that children may play together.

1975 Washington Post 13 June b6/2 Last Saturday my 7-year-old daughter had a play-date with a little friend.
1986 N.Y. Times 24 Aug. xxii. 30/1 We arrange appointments for ‘play dates’, usually three weeks in advance. My daughter's crowded calendar could be the envy of any socialite.
1994 Today's Parent (Electronic ed.) June 78 If your child's preschool social visits were‥limited to the children of your friends and neighbours, his new play dates with families you've never met can sometimes cause‥anxiety.
2002 R. Peters Laying down Law 191 Many children go through a period of feeling alone.‥ Help to begin or cement new friendships by contacting some classmates' parents to set up playdates.