Playdate Etiquette for Parents

At His Friend’s House, My Son Eats Sugar and Plays Video Games, Which I Don’t Allow. Should I Talk to the Parents?

In a word, no. In fact, imagine a slow-motion action sequence in which someone is hurling herself through the air to grab the phone from your hand, screaming, “Nooooooo!”

“Micromanaging other parents is never a good idea,” says Boston Globe etiquette columnist Robin Abrahams, the author of Miss Conduct’s Mind Over Manners ($15, amazon.com). “Besides, you can’t shield your kids from temptation forever. Eventually they’re going to meet a Pop-Tart in the wild.” As long as the forbidden thing is benign—that is, he’s playing Angry Birds and not War Zombies II: Blood-o-Rama—let it go. “It’s OK for your kid to feel that he’s getting away with something small,” says Post.