We are not the best playdate people, as a matter of fact, other than the few families we hang out with – we don’t really have playdates at all. Shad and I always prefer to do everything together. Actually it took years for us to separate for anything, we enjoyed doing everything together. Now, with Reilly almost 10 we are realizing we have to divide and conquer a lot more.

Reilly has a friend Mason at school whom I adore. Although they go hot and cold sometimes, Mason always comes right up to me and talks to me when I have lunch with Reilly. We have talked for sometime about getting together and recently Mason gave me his Mom’s number. I’m determined to get these two together, now I actually just need to call his Mom.

Ironically this past weekend the Hampshire Football Club played Milford. Reilly is on the Hampshire team – I sat next to Mason’s family although I didn’t know until mid-way through the game. Afterward, I talked to little Mason and introduced myself to his parents. We talked about getting the boys together.

Fast forward a couple hours: We’re in the car, trying to get an appropriate colored t-shirt for Kate’s spring concert. Reilly and I are talking and I refer to his “playdate” with Mason. His response was “ummmm, Mom… we don’t call it a playdate anymore”. Oh, what do you call it? “We call it hanging out” because that’s what we do, we “hang out.”

Ahhhh… I do recall the difference when I was a kid. My brother used to have all his friends over, they would all stand around me and then my brother would say “Hey Betsy, do you play with girls” and, being the 7 year old that I was I would reply enthusiastically “yes, I DO!”. The group of them would bust a gut laughing at me. It took me a few years, but I eventually got the “group of teenage boys” view of the world, and my view.

So… Rye, yes, I will call it “hanging out” and we will work much harder to get you a few “hanging out” times over the coming months.