with the under 7 crowd, my biggest concern was whether the kid was OK with the sleepover. Kind of scary being away from mom, sometimes. We had to walk one kid home late at night when she became homesick. She came back for breakfast. That's the cool thing about a tight knit neighborhood where all the families know eachother. But, absolutely, I would (and have) let kids go to sleepovers at that age. When they're ready. And to families I know. There's not a whole lot of mischief they're going to get into at that age. And crankiness just comes with the territory. Full agreement with Max's comments about a sense of independence for the kid. And I wouldn't worry about them not getting enough sleep. Doesn't really matter. Don't do it on the night before they need to be attentive. Expect them to sleep deprived the next day. They're pretty resilient critters.
I don't have children yet but when I do and I'm put that situation I would want to meet the parents and get an idea of what the plan was... But other than that..party on
I have a four year old daughter and the only places she can spend the night is her aunt's house and grandma. I will never let her spend the night at a friends house, they will have to stay at our house because I don't trust anyone outside of the family. I have seen too much Nancy Grace, missing, murdered & molested kids. Nope, not going to be mine.
yeah, i would never have one of the kids sleep alone. just split up big groups into smaller ones so they'll actually sleep, is all i meant.
I don't mean to be rude... I don't. If you're letting Nancy Drama Grace mold your outlook of society, it's no wonder you're scared. You realize she's a sensationalistic 'journalist,' right?
Nancy Grace is a perfectly responsible "journalist", too. She never blows things way out of proportion. What makes you anymore trustworthy than the parents at a friend's house? I have a 5-yr old and a 2-yr old, both boys. When they're old enough, we'll give them the opportunity if we know the parents and we feel it's safe. If not, the answer will be "no". We're teaching our boys to always be on their guard, but not to be scared of anyone not in their family. I don't want them walking around thinking everyone is going to hurt them. That's no way to go through life.
Trust me, Nancy Grace is not my hero. I was just using her as an example, there are lots of other outlets that get those type of stories out in the drama filled media. The fact is still all of those horrible things are happening to kids who can't protect themselves.
I wouldn't tell you how to be with your kids, or suggest that you're off base on this. I might suggest not to let Trage-tainment skew your sense of making decisions regarding your children. I might not, though. It is your business.
Really? Because I know who I am and I can never know anyone as well as I can know myself. If other parents choose to let them come to my house it's up to them, but I will always choose not to. To each his own when it comes to parenting, I was just giving my opinion about my own daughter. A child's mind is simple, simple enough to be taken advantage.
This should be interesting when she hits her teens and isn't allowed to sleep at a friends house, or is it purely an age thing?
I hate Nancy Grace And don't deprive your children of sleepovers, they are great bonding times. Especially when they are young, kids start to form their cliques and groups of friends they are going to grow up with and pass through all the levels of school with. He's going to end up being that emo, loner kid if he never gets the chance to build true friendships outside of school
My kids are still young (One will be 4 on Monday, the other is 16 months), and they have only spent the night with family. I expect the desire to have sleepovers isn't too far off with my oldest starting school next year. Whether they get to will depend on a combination of factors: Their age at the time Age of those living wherever they are staying How well we know the kid(s)/parent(s) Sex of those living in the house Location they are staying How well I trust my child I doubt I will deny anybody from spending the night at our house unless they are of the opposite sex. I may allow girls to spend the night, but we'd have to know the family extremely well.
Do you naturally trust kids of the same gender? A friend of mine was a camp counselor ten years ago and was telling me there was rampant bisexual experimentation going on, not always with mutual consent. Of course, despite playing devil's advocate here, I think I would let my kids go to sleepovers. But I think I have a responsibility to teach them some basics of self defense and good responses to peer pressure, etc. before putting them in a bad position. A woman I much respect said her father always told her that if she was ever asked to do something that made her uncomfortable she could use him as an excuse ("my dad's just REALLY strict") and she said it got her out of a lot.
