Setting events in iCal?

Question

I am trying to use iCal in 10.9 in the same manner as I did in the previous operating systems.  ICal does not work the same way.  Either the new iteration of iCal has some hidden feature that I have not yet found, or it is indeed badly designed.
My problem is in adding a new event to a calendar.  As I have in the past, I go to the date on which I want to write a new event.  In the past operating systems, iCal would then open a window on that date.  That editing window would display the proper date.  All I would have to do is type in the identification of the event and choose the applicable times.   Then I would close the window, and the event appeared as I wanted in iCal.
Now, though, in 10.9, when I am at some future date on a calendar in iCal, I click on the date, and up springs the editing window.  This time the editing window opens on today's date.  For example, I clicked on December 3, because I wanted to add an event to December 3.   ICal took me back to today's date on the calendar.  When I go into the editing window, now not only do I have to type in the identification of the event and its time, I also have to type in the date.   And then when I close the window, iCal takes me back to the date on the calendar where I wanted to be in the first place.
It is a lot easier to start at the desired date and add the event there.  This new way of starting every single event at today's date is cumbersome and error-prone. 
Is iCal supposed to operate this way?  Or is there someway of getting iCal to add events directly to a date I select manually, as we always did in the past?

Answer 1

Now I am on the daytime computer, and now I return to my original question:  How do I get iCal to establsh a new event on the desired date on the calendar?  
I find a discrepency between the instructions and the actual operation of the program.   ICal's Help Center has these instructions:
1. Click Add (+).Events are added to your default calendar. (Events added by other apps are also added to your default calendar.)
Add the event to a different calendar:
Click and hold Add (+), then choose a calendar.
Change your default calendar:
Choose Calendar > Preferences, click General, then choose a calendar from the Default Calendar menu.If you choose “Selected calendar,” the calendar highlighted in the Calendar list is the default calendar.
2. Enter a name, date, and time duration, then press Return.For example, enter “Party Feb 6,” “Soccer Game on Saturday from 11am-1pm,” or “Breakfast with Jon.” If you:
Enter an address:
The address is set as the event’s location.
Enter “breakfast” or “morning”:
The event starts at 9 a.m.
Enter “lunch “ or “noon”:
The event starts at 12 p.m.
Enter “dinner” or “night”:
The event starts at 8 p.m.
Don’t enter a time duration:
Calendar makes it a 1-hour event.
Don’t enter any time information:
Calendar makes it an all-day event.
But that is not what I see.  When I choose "New Event" or click on the "+" button, I get a small dialog box entitled "Create Quick Event."  This dialog box does not permit any editing of the date and time of the new event.  I have to press "Return."  Then I have to find today's date on the calendar, open up the new event that iCal created for today, and edit the data in that new dialog box for the correct date and time.  Only then does iCal move the new event to the correct date.
It would be much easier if iCal operated in the old, pre-Mavericks manner and allowed me to add new events to the date on the calendars where I want the new events to appear.