By Peapodsquadmom | Leave A Comment
I’m an overprotective parent. There…I admitted it. And I’m not sure that’s such an awful thing. My parents were overprotective. I thought they were just horrible. Now? Now I know better. I know the worry that they carried by the bucketful.
My triplets are only 4. They just started pre-k. That has been stressful enough for me. I shudder with complete terror at the thought of a day when one of them comes home and says they want to sleepover at a friend’s house. I hope that day is many years away. But will I EVER be ready for that?!?!
When will they be old enough for sleepovers? How will I prepare myself for that? Are there precautions I can take to ensure their safety during this right-of-passage activity?
Family Lobby has a great article, Children and Sleepovers, that offers some practical and helpful advice for parents whose children are entering the sleepover scene. If your kids are thinking they are ready for sleepovers, you should check this article out so you can be sure you’re both ready!
Do you already have experience with sleepovers? Please share your tips for making this a fun and safe activity.
ABOUT Peapodsquadmom
Monica is an elementary school music teacher, mom of 6-year-old triplets and wife to daddy extraordi{read more}
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I’m glad you posted this. My kids are still too young for sleepovers, but I’ve heard kids around their age starting to talk about them and I, too, have been dreading this because I know how I’ll worry!
Right now, our rule is that they can only sleepover at a house where we know the family well. My girls are 8 and 7 years old and have been to sleepovers at three houses. We have known each family for 5+years, and in fact some of us are godparents to each other’s kids. Our general rule of thumb is that we know the family, and that there are no older siblings, or the siblings are as familiar to us as the parents. My girls understand and accept this, at least for now. They have been invited to a couple of birthday sleepovers, and we just take them for a few hours and then pick them up before it gets late. Your child’s safety and your family’s values are more important than whether or not someone’s feelings are hurt.
I’m the unpopular parent in our group. We don’t do sleepovers. We don’t host them and we don’t attend them. Your child can stay here until midnight, if you like, but there are no over-night stays. Yes, I’m over protective. No, I don’t care. We have a very large homeschool community and there are lots of sleepovers, all the time. My kids are ok with not sleeping over, and the other families know how I feel and are very nice about it. We joke about it and I take some good natured ribbing, but I can handle it.