Do You Plan to Play?

“Where is Jenessa?” I asked my daughter during our usual Sunday phone chat. No conversation from Illinois to Oklahoma was complete without a few words from our exuberant granddaughter.

“Oh, she’s on a playdate with Abby.”

“A playdate?”

“Yes, haven’t you heard of that?”

“Well, I’ve heard of children playing with each other—what makes a playdate different?”

 “It’s a scheduled time of play. Abby’s mom calls and says, ‘Can Jenessa come to play next Sunday at two?’ as opposed to Jenessa seeing Abby making mud pies in her yard and asking if I can take her over there to play.”

“You mean you wouldn’t let Jenessa make mud pies with Abby on the spur of the moment? You have to plan a mud-pie-making date? Doesn’t that take all the fun out of playing?”

“Well, everyone is so busy; it’s easier to plan things. Then we don’t interrupt people’s schedules.”

“Goodness gracious,” I said, “what is society coming to when we have to plan our play?” I changed the subject before my blood pressure went to the moon. My daughter promised to have Jenessa call us when she returned.

After we hung up, I found my calendar. “Phone date with Jenessa” I wrote in the Sunday square. Then I decided to see if this newfangled system could simplify other parts of our lives.

“Are we going to church this evening?” I asked my husband.

He gave me a hard stare. “Of course we are; I’m the preacher.”

I added, “Churchdate” to Sunday. 

“Would you like supper tonight, honey?”

Another stare, this time a worried one. “Yes, why do you ask?”

“Just keeping up with the times,” I said. “But that’s all we can fit in today. If you want to play after church, you’ll have to buy me a bigger calendar.”

Are you a playdate Planner? Or a spontanous Sally?