Who didn't love throwing or going to a sleepover as a kid? The late night hours and fun were always a promise. Friendships were formed and strengthened, and occasionally a little mischief occurred.
Now I am a parent.
I thought I was against sleepovers. Seeing my kids when family or cousins sleepover. They are grumpy, whining and terrible the next day. But then again they are still so young. That could go away, right? And there is the other side too. My kids sleeping at friends houses where the rules are different. Staying up late without parental supervision after the parents have gone to bed. It can be a formula for trouble. What is one to do?
Well, yesterday Sophie was playing with her new friend, Madison, at her house after school. They played and played and even ate dinner together. Her mom invited Sophie to sleepover....
Uhh...
I said yes.
And then they came over to our house this morning and I am watching Madison while her mom is out for a while. I think all went well. I KNOW they had a ton of fun.
Now I am torn about my position on sleepovers. I know I don't want them to be a regular thing. But what is the harm in it once and a while? I guess I am looking for some advice. What do you do about it in your families?
5 comments:
I loved sleep overs when i was little. I don't know how common they are now days with all the weirdo's out there. I don't think it's fair to say no to them all together. I think we just need to use our discression as a parent. A lot of people now are doing late overs, where the kids can stay up as late as they would a sleepover and do the same things but just not the sleeping part. I don't know... It's a tough subject. I would have to say I'm more on the yay side though.
We let our kids have stay-lates also. We have decided that rarely, we will let them have a sleepover. For instance, a few weeks ago we let Sarah have her first sleepover. I talked to her about being happy the next day, etc. And told her if she was crabby, we wouldn't ever allow her to have another one again. It worked. She did great. I am of the opinion that nothing good happens after about 11:00 at a sleepover anyway. But we will make rare exceptions.
I loved sleepovers as a kid, but I'm not a parent that loves them now. I'm not so worried about being grumpy the next day, but more about safety issues. You may know the family at the house they are sleeping, but you may not know the other kids or people that come over there. I may be just a paranoid parent, but my kids will not be having sleepovers. But I am a huge fan of late nights. THe only sleepover that my kids will be attending is the ones at grandma's house with the cousins. They can just call me the meanest mom ever.
I have the rule that Mikaela can only have sleepovers with her best friend, Robin Nelson. She can also have sleepovers with her cousins but as far as friends go, only one makes our 'ok' list. Reed's brother has the rule of letting his kids have late nights at their friends house and then they have to come home. I would follow your gut on this one. If you feel wrong about it, don't do it! You may not have a verifiable reason but you should always follow your intuition on these things. BTW, I LOVE the carmel/chocolate apples... yummy! I am going to have to try that with my kids, they will love it!
We do not do sleepovers except for family ones or under extreme emergency (which hasn't happened yet). Luckily my sister lives down the road and she does not allow sleepovers either, so we let our kids sleep at eachothers houses and they are fine with it. We sometimes swap one at hers one at mine. It is great fun, escpecially when she takes one of ours on a Saturday night and it is one less kid to get ready for church!!
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