I’m not against sleepovers, in fact, I loved them as a kid. Who didn’t? You got to hang out with your best pals, stay up really late, eat junk food, watch terrible television, or scary movies, and tell really juicy secrets. That’s what we did as kids, and it was all fun, right?
So last weekend, when my daughter wanted two girlfriends to sleep over, I said yes. ‘Cuz I’m the cool mom. And I knew no one had anything pressing going on the next day. And we had a tough time getting acclimated to Arizona and she’s finally got a group of friends and if she wants to have a sleepover, then I’m going to let her have one.
So then, my older son asked if he could have his friend sleep over too.
Repeat above statements.
Let’s just say five teenagers in a house do not mix well at 2 a.m.
Because that’s what time my husband let all hell break loose.
Here’s what happened: Hubby settled our 10-year-old into bed around 10 p.m. and fell asleep in his bed with him. Can’t blame him – he works a hard week and he’s exhausted by Fridays. Our house is a two-story house. The kid’s bedrooms and their ‘hang-out’ spot (which would be a basement if we still lived in a place where they had basements) are all upstairs. Our bedroom is on the first floor. Hubby fell asleep upstairs. His mistake.
When I went to bed around 11:30, the girls were settled in the ‘hang-out’ room, which was where they were going to sleep. Two were almost asleep, the other one was watching Glee reruns. They were practically done for the night. Or so I thought.
The two boys were in the family room watching a movie.
I went to bed. I put earplugs in because the TV in the family room was loud.
I “thought” everyone was done for the night, down for the count.
I forgot these are teens we are talking about.
Fast-forward to 2 a.m. Hubby comes into our room and wakes me up in his sleep-induced rage-slash-fury. I feared the house was on fire.
“Did you know there are five kids awake and running around the house and it’s 2 a.m.?”
Uh, yeah. I knew. Couldn’t he tell by the way I was up joining in on the rave with the kids? Where are my fluorescent glow sticks, darn it? I thought I left them right here under my pillow!
I HAD MY HEAD UNDER THE PILLOWS AND COULDN’T HEAR A THING! I WAS DEAD TO THE WORLD!
While he was furious, I was only mildly annoyed. Yes, 2 a.m. was way too late, and the kids were being completely disrespectful by being loud and inconsiderate of us.
But … I grew up in a house where we had sleepovers and parties all of the time. He grew up as the only child until he was 7. I’m not sure he ever got a sleepover, the poor child.
They’re fun, they are what we remember as kids. Sleepovers create bonds with kids who may become the best friends you’ll have for the rest of your lives. So, while the next day, Dad gave his speech about no more sleepovers, I nodded and agreed with him that the kids were disrespectful. I will agree that we will never have three kids over on one night again, but I’m not saying NO to sleepovers forever.
Because, THAT, my friends, is simply un-American!
What’s your take on the American Sleepover? What age do you permit them and what rules do you instill?
I loved, loved sleepovers when I was growing up! I had one every year for my birthday and spent the night at many of my friend’s homes over the years. Like you said, so many memories!
After becoming a stepmother I was part of planning slumber parties (actually sleeping outside in a tent) for my stepson, from the time he was 10 until he was 16.
And as a Mom…I can’t wait for my little ones to be old enough for their own slumber parties!
The trick to successfully hosting a multi-teen sleepover is turning it into an event and just going with the flow. When my son was 15, my husband and I let him have a co-ed sleepover with 10 kids ranging in age from 15-17. We had pizza, sodas, and a buffet of snacks on the kitchen table. Karaoke in the living room (which was HIL.AR.IOUS to watch the boys singing Britney Spears in falsetto). They videoed/filmed wrestling (my son and a couple of the guys were on the school team) and mock fights in the yard. Then the kids all went to a “rave” in the garage with music, and strobe and blacklights (and, yes, glow sticks). Which is where they all finally ended up in sleeping bags chatting late into the night until they fell asleep (we had carpet on the floor in the garage for a converted workout room). And in the morning, they all wandered back into the house for a big breakfast. And then we all went off to watch my son’s and his best friend play in their last little league game. =) That was my son’s first party. He had three or four others throughout high school. It was nice to see all the kids having a great time and knowing they would be someplace safe to have fun.
We don’t trust other parents enough to allow sleepovers. We’ve had two different family friends daughters sexually abused at a sleepover. Not something we are willing to risk.
Jenn, that’s horrible. =( I guess it depends on how well you know the kids attending. My son isn’t friends with boys like that. He would “clean the clock” of anyone who tried to take advantage of a girl. When he was 17, he punched a boy at a bus stop who made some nasty comments to a girl that made her cry, and my son didn’t even know her. After teen nightclubs, my son would wait with girls whose parents hadn’t yet arrived to pick them up, so the girls weren’t left alone in the parking lot. He’s 23 now, so those things were years ago. Maybe parents nowadays aren’t teaching their boys to respect and protect girls like they should.
My son is just as respectful as yours ever was and hes not even 14 yet. Im raising a wonderful son “now adays” than you very much Annette!
I had so much fun at sleepovers as a kid. LOVED THEM. Now that I’m a parent — and we’re nowhere even near this stage yet, but I’m a planner/worrier — I’m afraid of the sleepovers. I’m fine with them at our house, but the idea of my kids spending the night at other people’s houses… freaks me out.
Think I can convince my kids to wreak all the sleepover havoc at our house? I don’t mind that stuff. My mom didn’t, either.
Oh, sleepovers played a HUGE role in my childhood from late elementary school through high school. Mostly they were at other friends’ houses, since ours was small, but they were always a blast. Our 11 year old son has had a few, just one other friend, since our house is also fairly small, but they’ve been pretty low key. He had one sleepover at another friend’s house in which the movie they watched was a bit too scary for him, but he was embarrassed to say so. That was sad, and we’re trying to figure out how to avoid or deal with situations like that in the future.
Hope you made up for the sleep the next night, Steph!