Internet Flames Mom Who Suggests ‘Normalizing’ Charging Money For Play Dates
Building friendships as a young child is extremely important. Not only is it good for their development, helping them learn social skills such as cooperation and sharing, but it also gives them all the more opportunity for fun, an integral part of any kid's life.
Sometimes, though, outside factors make maintaining these friendships a little harder, like other parents being just too difficult to handle.
Handling adult life can be tough when your own inner child has yet to heal.
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Supposed To Be Fun
Dropping your child off at a friend's place can be a relief sometimes. It lets you have some time to yourself, run some errands, or do some needed chores, all while your kid is still out having fun! It's an exchange between parents and time with friends for the kids; everyone wins.
Until, that is, the parental host of the play date decides that you need to chip in and cover some of the 'resources' that your kid used during their visit.
Friendly Demands
User @shay.nanigans87 (or simplay Shay) uploaded a video to TikTok in which she suggests sending a bill to her daughter's friend's family after hosting a playdate at her home.
"So recently my daughter had a friend over and I asked her mom for money and this is how it went," Shay said. "So after the playdate, I texted her mom and I said thanks for letting Jamie play today. Please help out with your share of the expenses for the playdate totaling $15 via Venmo."
An Itemized Receipt
Shay shared screenshots of the text conversation she had with the friend's mother. When asked what supplies she was being charged for, Shay sent a list that included $1 for chalk, $1 for applesauce, $1 for fruit, $2 for three juice boxes, and $1 for wear and tear on the couch from sitting.
"There was chalk, applesauce, fruit, she sat on the couch, that's wear and tear, she actually broke a toy, she had three juice boxes, she went to the bathroom, she had yogurt," Shay explained.
Is It A Smart Idea?
The next message did say that the mom paid the charge, as Shay commented, "Then she actually sent the money and I sent her a message thanking her for it of course. She didn't say anything else."
Near the end of her video, she says that she believes this practice should be encouraged, normalized even. "She used supplies and food while she was here. And this way, we can do this more often without a monetary obligation on just one party."
She finished the video by asking her audience, which wound up being over 4.2 million people, what they thought.
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Don't Think So
The whopping 35,000 comments were mostly filled with people finding this behavior absurd.
"I'd be very uncomfortable if the person hosting a play date kept track of how many times my kid needed to use the restroom," wrote one very reasonable commenter.
Another, with a short and sweet response, said, "I'd send you the $15 then never speak to you again."
"Even if I was in the worst financial situation I would never charge anyone let alone a child a fee for couch sitting," said another.
Played Up
Now, a few commenters picked up on the likely reality here, which is that Shay faked this whole situation for 'rage bait,' a tactic in which someone posts something intentionally inflammatory to get views, comments, and engagement.
"This has GOT to be rage bait. You can't ACTUALLY be like this, right? Man, you need help. How terrible," one said. Another say this as an educational opportunity, writing, "I'm learning what rage bait is all about."
Helping One Another
It definitely is an over-the-top concept, especially once you see what she actually 'charged' the other mom for. Without looking into it, it'd be an easy thing to get angry about, especially given how (understandably) sensitive a lot of people are about anything related to their children.
Thankfully, it's likely not real, but given how many people thought it was, it does show that there's a surplus of selfish parents who might consider doing this if they had thought of it. As parents, you should be there to uplift and support one another, not make even simple play dates a hassle.
