It seems some well to do Manhattan parents are willing to pay top dollar to ensure that their litter cherubs are in the company of stellar play dates.
Accorded as play dates, some Manhattan mom and dads have begun seeking out well heeled instructors whose job for $400 an hour it is to teach one’s little cherub to behave with appropriate good manners around other little other cherubs in the hopes of getting into New York’s elite private schools.
Explains Suzanne Rheault, the CEO of one firm specializing in organizing play dates, called Aristotle Circle: “Sometimes [parents] hear from our experts that there are some areas to improve.”
Could one dare wonder what a four year old could learn where it comes to social manners?
Continues the nypost: Rheault’s pricey play dates involve groups of three to five 4-year-olds playing in a room. The experts closely monitor how the kids share crayons, color, follow directions in Simon Says, and hold a pencil.
How the kids share a crayon? (‘Here Bumby let me share my crayon with you. No, please I have my own crayon. Would you like me to have daddy donate one to you?)
Apparently this shit counts for big sweeps as the kids are carefully judged when it comes time for them to apply to some top end schools such as Trinity and Horace Mann.
Continues Rheault: “Given that admission rates [to elite kindergartens] are so low, parents don’t want to leave anything to chance.”
And for those who wonder if such demands are a bit on the extreme side, Amanda Uhry of Manhattan Private School Advisor had this to offer:
‘The kids end up sounding like robots.”
Yet former Horace Mann admissions director, Dana Haddad who runs similar workshop (naturally) had this to offer:
“It’s generally very helpful for the children so they know what to expect.”
Which of course poses the question what ever happened to parents taking the time to teach their children good manners and how to be a delightful 4 year old disaster…?
