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"    The playdate is a mainstay of modern parenting. But is the concept hurting kids? That&amp;#039;s the argument from stay-at-home dad and blogger Chris Bernholdt, who believes playdates are &amp;quot;altering the spontaneity of our children.&amp;quot; Gone are the days when your daughter could knock on a neighbor&amp;#039;s door and ask if a friend could go out and play, he says. Now, parents must schedule every activity for their kids, who consequently don&amp;#039;t know how to create their own playtime. &amp;quot;My son [is] incapable of calling his friends because he feels awkward asking, especially when a grown-up answers,&amp;quot; he wrote in a post titled &amp;quot;Banish The Playdate,&amp;quot; which has racked up nearly 200 comments. Plus, playdates put tons of pressure on parents, who must email back and forth to pick the perfect day and time, and are then expected to hang out together while their children play. Bernholdt notes that adding the word &amp;quot;date&amp;quot; to the activity &amp;quot;makes me feel like I should be preparing a cheese plate and\u2026fabulous parting gift.&amp;quot; So should we let our kids roam free around the neighborhood? Many aren&amp;#039;t so sure. The comments are full of responses that suggest playtime in 2014 can&amp;#039;t be quite like when today&amp;#039;s parents were kids. &amp;quot;It&amp;#039;s a scary, different world we live in now,&amp;quot; Justin Knight wrote. &amp;quot;Playdates are but a symptom of a larger problem.&amp;quot; Then what&amp;#039;s the solution? Maybe a change of name can help. When discussing the concept on the TODAY show, anchors Willie Geist and Al Roker suggested a rebrand. How does a simple &amp;quot;get together&amp;quot; sound?  RelatedBright Idea: Let Your Kids Summer Like It&amp;#039;s 1979And the Best State to Raise Kids in Is...Yet Another Genius Dad Hack to Add to Your Playbook "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.redbookmag.com/life/mom-kids/news/a18379/should-play-date-be-banned/>