Who's the Boss

One of the side-effects of working from home is that, if I answer the family line, I can get pulled into the subtle politics of 'play-dates'.

Follows is a call from this morning

Me: Hello
Mom of kid: Hi, is Julie there?
Me: No, sorry, I think she's at the gym with her personal trainer Sven.
Mom of kid: Oh that's too bad, I was hoping to set up a play date with Sophie and my son.
Me: Oh, is your son in my daughters social network? We only accept invitations from those kids.
Mom of kid: (pause) Pardon me?
Me: Ha ha, just joking, a play date sounds great, Sophie would love that. What time?
Mom of kid: Err, perhaps I'll just phone back when Julie gets home ..
Me: No need, I can bring Sophie over.
Mom of kid: Weell, maybe we should just wait for Julie to decide ...

She was clearly not convinced that I had the authority to make the decision (nor was she swayed by the clear evidence in support).

If only my wife had explicitly delegated to me

<DelegatedDad>
   <Right uri="playdate"/>
     <Limit>weekdaysonly</Limit>
     <Limit>
       <AllowedFriends>Alice,Bob</AllowedFriends>
     </Limit>
   </Right>
</DelegatedDad>