Sleepovers

At a New Year's Eve party I told some friends that our family will no longer be participating in sleep overs. Those friends asked why, but the conversation turned to something else quickly, as it often does at parties. So now I'll explain why.

A few months ago someone suggested that we stop having sleep overs. I don't like to be told what to do and pretty much blew her off. I figured that I never leave my kids with some one I don't trust completely and my kids are well supervised both in my home and theirs. Then the thought kept coming back to me to stop sleepovers. When I finally allowed myself to consider it, I remembered things that I had done with friends in the wee hours of the night. My parents or theirs were always just in the next room, but you can get away with a lot if those parents are sound asleep. I was a good kid...I can't imagine what the more "creative" kids did. I'm not necessarily concerned about sleepovers at the age my kids are, but I figure if I'm going to enforce it when they are older I need to train them now.

I am concerned that not having sleepovers will in some way limit the kids social interaction. I hope that they will still be invited to sleepover parties and such. We will just pick them up when it is time for bed (even if it happens to be late) and take them back over in the morning. It does sound like a lot of work but I think it will be worth it. I do need to invite kids over to play here more often. I honestly just don't think about it.