{"id":6423,"date":"2012-11-05T11:59:38","date_gmt":"2012-11-05T11:59:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.livingwithkids.co.uk\/?p=6423"},"modified":"2013-06-24T12:51:49","modified_gmt":"2013-06-24T12:51:49","slug":"how-hard-do-you-try-on-play-dates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kidstart.co.uk\/blog\/how-hard-do-you-try-on-play-dates\/","title":{"rendered":"How Hard Do You Try On Play Dates?"},"content":{"rendered":"<strong>A new poll has shown that mums are competitive when hosting coffee mornings and play dates, with three in five splashing out on expensive biscuits (and cakes), flash coffee and freshly cut flowers to impress their guests.<\/strong>\n\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.livingwithkids.co.uk\/how-hard-do-you-try-on-play-dates\/cakes\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-6424\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-6424\" title=\"cakes\" src=\"http:\/\/www.livingwithkids.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/cakes.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"225\" height=\"250\" \/><\/a>\n\nI have to say I have noticed this trend on play dates, where mums have recently started to appear with homemade cakes that deserve a place on The Great British Bake Off. Being someone who isn&#8217;t creative on the cake or on the expensive biscuits front I&#8217;m thinking dates at my house must be a bit of a disappointment.\n\nGenerally I offer tea, and whatever is in my cupboards. Dinner for visiting kids is usually fish fingers and usual trimmings (the food I have found nearly all kids eat) and nothing more competitive than ketchup on the side. The one time I did make a something more exotic (it was lasagne) no one ate it, which is why I think I have scaled back to basics.\n\nThough perhaps I have gone too far because as I write this I am beginning to realise that I actually like being treated to something nice at someone else&#8217;s house. So all those competitive mums are actually doing something right. It makes me think that I should probably put on a better show.\n\nBut how about you? What kind of effort do you make when other mums come round? And do you like it when mums put on a show for you? Let us know.\n\n&nbsp;","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A new poll has shown that mums are competitive when hosting coffee mornings and play dates, with three in five splashing out on expensive biscuits (and cakes), flash coffee and freshly cut flowers to impress their guests. I have to say I have noticed this trend on play dates, where mums have recently started to","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6424,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,3503],"tags":[3152,3153,3154,3155,3156],"class_list":["post-6423","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-great-family-life-tips","category-parenting-advice-from-parents","tag-coffee-mornings","tag-playdates","tag-posh-biscuits","tag-posh-cakes","tag-what-do-you-make-on-playdates"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\r\n<title>How Hard Do You Try On Play Dates? - KidStart Magazine<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.kidstart.co.uk\/blog\/how-hard-do-you-try-on-play-dates\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How Hard Do You Try On Play Dates? - KidStart Magazine\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A new poll has shown that mums are competitive when hosting coffee mornings and play dates, with three in five splashing out on expensive biscuits (and cakes), flash coffee and freshly cut flowers to impress their guests. I have to say I have noticed this trend on play dates, where mums have recently started to\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.kidstart.co.uk\/blog\/how-hard-do-you-try-on-play-dates\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"KidStart Magazine\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-11-05T11:59:38+00:00\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2013-06-24T12:51:49+00:00\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Anita\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Anita\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\r\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kidstart.co.uk\/blog\/how-hard-do-you-try-on-play-dates\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.kidstart.co.uk\/blog\/how-hard-do-you-try-on-play-dates\/\",\"name\":\"How Hard Do You Try On Play Dates? - KidStart Magazine\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kidstart.co.uk\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kidstart.co.uk\/blog\/how-hard-do-you-try-on-play-dates\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kidstart.co.uk\/blog\/how-hard-do-you-try-on-play-dates\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"\",\"datePublished\":\"2012-11-05T11:59:38+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-06-24T12:51:49+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kidstart.co.uk\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0f892175d96fe3714b565dc5da94471b\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kidstart.co.uk\/blog\/how-hard-do-you-try-on-play-dates\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.kidstart.co.uk\/blog\/how-hard-do-you-try-on-play-dates\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kidstart.co.uk\/blog\/how-hard-do-you-try-on-play-dates\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"\",\"contentUrl\":\"\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kidstart.co.uk\/blog\/how-hard-do-you-try-on-play-dates\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.kidstart.co.uk\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"How Hard Do You Try On Play Dates?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kidstart.co.uk\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.kidstart.co.uk\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"KidStart Magazine\",\"description\":\"KidStart - a little help along the way\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.kidstart.co.uk\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kidstart.co.uk\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0f892175d96fe3714b565dc5da94471b\",\"name\":\"Anita\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kidstart.co.uk\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1ed254c55b7b84fc4ac5b27299652760?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1ed254c55b7b84fc4ac5b27299652760?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Anita\"},\"description\":\"I\u2019m Anita, a mum to two under 5s, a blogger, journalist and author. I\u2019ll be blogging about all things family related whether that\u2019s ranting about legislation, or a general heads up about something to make family life happier and less stressful.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.kidstart.co.uk\/blog\/author\/anita\/\"}]}<\/script>\r\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How Hard Do You Try On Play Dates? - KidStart Magazine","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.kidstart.co.uk\/blog\/how-hard-do-you-try-on-play-dates\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"How Hard Do You Try On Play Dates? - KidStart Magazine","og_description":"A new poll has shown that mums are competitive when hosting coffee mornings and play dates, with three in five splashing out on expensive biscuits (and cakes), flash coffee and freshly cut flowers to impress their guests. I have to say I have noticed this trend on play dates, where mums have recently started to","og_url":"https:\/\/www.kidstart.co.uk\/blog\/how-hard-do-you-try-on-play-dates\/","og_site_name":"KidStart Magazine","article_published_time":"2012-11-05T11:59:38+00:00","article_modified_time":"2013-06-24T12:51:49+00:00","author":"Anita","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Anita","Estimated reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.kidstart.co.uk\/blog\/how-hard-do-you-try-on-play-dates\/","url":"https:\/\/www.kidstart.co.uk\/blog\/how-hard-do-you-try-on-play-dates\/","name":"How Hard Do You Try On Play Dates? - KidStart Magazine","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.kidstart.co.uk\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.kidstart.co.uk\/blog\/how-hard-do-you-try-on-play-dates\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.kidstart.co.uk\/blog\/how-hard-do-you-try-on-play-dates\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"","datePublished":"2012-11-05T11:59:38+00:00","dateModified":"2013-06-24T12:51:49+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.kidstart.co.uk\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0f892175d96fe3714b565dc5da94471b"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.kidstart.co.uk\/blog\/how-hard-do-you-try-on-play-dates\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.kidstart.co.uk\/blog\/how-hard-do-you-try-on-play-dates\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.kidstart.co.uk\/blog\/how-hard-do-you-try-on-play-dates\/#primaryimage","url":"","contentUrl":""},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.kidstart.co.uk\/blog\/how-hard-do-you-try-on-play-dates\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.kidstart.co.uk\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"How Hard Do You Try On Play Dates?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.kidstart.co.uk\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.kidstart.co.uk\/blog\/","name":"KidStart Magazine","description":"KidStart - a little help along the way","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.kidstart.co.uk\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.kidstart.co.uk\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0f892175d96fe3714b565dc5da94471b","name":"Anita","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.kidstart.co.uk\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1ed254c55b7b84fc4ac5b27299652760?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1ed254c55b7b84fc4ac5b27299652760?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Anita"},"description":"I\u2019m Anita, a mum to two under 5s, a blogger, journalist and author. I\u2019ll be blogging about all things family related whether that\u2019s ranting about legislation, or a general heads up about something to make family life happier and less stressful.","url":"https:\/\/www.kidstart.co.uk\/blog\/author\/anita\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kidstart.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6423","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kidstart.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kidstart.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kidstart.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kidstart.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6423"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.kidstart.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6423\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kidstart.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kidstart.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6423"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kidstart.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6423"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kidstart.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6423"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}