When I was a kid, there was no such thing as a" play date". If I wanted to play with my friends, I opened the door, walked outside and selected from any one or all of the 65 (no exaggeration) kids that lived on my street. There were both boys and girls in every age group. We had large outside games of cops and robbers, Hide and Seek and Ghost in the Graveyard. We played Jump- rope, T.V. Tag and practiced hand stands and cartwheels by the hour. The girls played Barbie dolls and baby dolls. We danced to records, formed clubs of all kinds and put on many plays.We built forts in the woods and made pretend campgrounds. We played on the railroad tracks and on occasion rode our bikes to Daily Mass at the Convent down the street. With our friends,we walked to and from school every day, even through a Vermont winter for all 12 years. There was constant interaction with friends and neighbors, most all of it good.
Fast forward 40 years(ouch!) to today. Although our neighborhood is safe, and has beautiful natural features, there is a lack of playmates for our boys. Thankfully, we have been blessed with neighbors who are a homeschooling family with three fun and creative girls, now teen-agers.That has been great for our older girls. However, there is not another boy of any age in our neighborhood. Our boys do have each other, but at this point, I am seeing a real need for other boys for them to play with. Personality development is very subtle and friends offer a great way to discover who we are and how we need to adjust ourselves to become a better person.
Which brings us to the "play date" which doesn't sound very masculine at all. I have overcome inertia in this area and have started to pick up the phone to arrange get- togethers with a friend that the boys really enjoy. We are also going to continue to make a point to spend time with our cousins, who are all good kids. This is worth the time and has become a high priority for me. My goal is to, with God's help, raise great men. In order to do that, these boys need to spend time with other boys in good activities and just hanging out.
