Sleepovers Made Easy

CHRIS HART shows you how to ace your childs first sleepover.

- Chris Hart

Sooner or later, your children are going to want to go to ‘sleepovers’, or to invite their friends to your house. A sleepover is a kid’s party where everyone stays overnight. Kids get to stay up late, eat what they want, and talk about everything in a more private venue with kids of their own age. Kids see them as some sort of ‘rite of passage’, so you’ll come under a lot of pressure to agree.

PROS AND CONS

Sleepovers are good because besides being great fun, they help children to develop greater independence, closer friendships, and better social skills. But most parents hate sleepovers, especially sleepovers at someone else’s house. They worry about everything, like will my child be teased if he wets the bed? And if the child is older, will she be tempted to try smoking, drinking, or even sex?

If all that sounds bad enough – there are also such things as co-ed sleepovers, where both boys and girls stay overnight together. Most parents think that’s an utterly appalling idea, but others think of it as a safer alternative to teenage dating.

SAFE SLEEPOVERS

But before you reject sleepovers out of hand, remember, sleepovers are a good thing. They just need to be handled right. The first thing to remember is, YOU set the rules. And the basic rule is, no sleepovers unless you know the family well. That way you’re sure of the level of supervision and know that appropriate behavioural standards will be enforced.

You should also teach your children to look after themselves. Encourage them to be open with you by not being judgmental. That way you’ll know if anything’s going wrong.