Sleepover
Liz Atwood discusses whether she did the right think by hosting a co-ed sleepover at her house in this week's Tween Tuesday:
I can’t believe I did this. I hosted a co-ed sleepover.
OK, before you send the hate mail telling me I’m a bad mom, let me tell you how it happened. My tween turned 10 this past weekend and he wanted to invite a few friends over for pizza and cake. Sounded good to me. After years of coming up with party themes—pirates, Star Wars, frogs and Spiderman—it was a relief not to buy coordinated decorations and plan the entertainment.
The guests were two boys and a girl from his class. And while I didn’t plan games, I did buy a few balloons, napkins and party favors. I pulled out an old plastic tablecloth featuring Elmo and some cups from a SpongeBob party. It was quite a mishmash, but no one cared. The kids ran around outside playing soldier and capture the flag. They later played video games and watched a little TV.
The plan was for the boys to sleep over and the girl to go home around 9. But when her mother came to pick her up, she begged to spend the night. Actually, all the kids begged. And so we relinquished. I know, I know. We failed to enforce the rules and set boundaries. But you never caved in to your kid?
She slept upstairs in my son’s bedroom. The boys slept downstairs in the family room in sleeping bags. Everyone went to bed at 11 and the kids were great. They actually slept, and the next morning, they got up, ate breakfast and played more video games before the parents came to pick them up.
Maybe I have set a dangerous precedent, but this little girl seemed perfectly happy being “one of the boys” and it felt unfair to send her home while the boys stayed.
But I’m wondering if I did the right thing.
Comments
You were being a good hostess. If the little girl's mother was o.k. with the girl sleeping over then there is no problem. I'm a little old fashioned and would have insisted the child go home, but to each his own. Don't worry about it.
Posted by: Lisa | May 3, 2011 7:39 AM
My daughter is 9 and she attended a slumber party a few weeks ago where the same thing happened, and the boys just slept in a different room from the girls. I think it says a lot about you that the little girl's mother was okay with it, and I would take it as a compliment!
Posted by: Becky | May 4, 2011 8:40 AM
Um, my group of friends in the early 1990s had co-ed sleepovers in high school, everyone crashed out in the same family room/den/basement. Usually with parents in the house. I'm not saying nothing ever went on, but we were a group of fairly "good" kids and I saw a lot worse at large non-sleepver parties. Having boys and girls sleep in different rooms is probably more common, but I'm all for co-ed sleepovers. Our parents' relaxed and respectful attitude seemed to foster the same among us kids.
Posted by: Amy | May 5, 2011 10:24 AM