Sleep-overs, the curse of the devil?

Maccers - 22 Feb 16

So as we enter the world of tweendom, “sleep-overs” seem to be rearing their ugly head and becoming more and more popular with the young of today, well not in our house! I have canvassed parents / friends and the best response I got from one dear friend, to be fair she agreed with me, was “sleepovers are the work of the devil” and experience with my eldest two, leads me to agree. I did have one friend who said she thought they were “great fun and the more guests the better” (not sure the friendship will continue to be honest with such a fundamental difference in opinion).

I cannot remember having “sleep-overs” when I was a girl (I know I sound like my mum here) but back in the day they didn’t happen; at least not aged 9 and 12! Maybe 15… yet it seems sleepover are the new play-dates (which I also avoid by the way) – my eldest is constantly asking for her friends to sleep-over, the middle one (9) keeps asking if he can have a sleep-over for his big double-digit birthday, and in principle I don’t mind the friends coming over, as it means less sibling arguing for the day / night – what I do object to though, is the fall-out of a sleep-over.

By fall-out, I mean the grumps the following day, which is a knock-on from those children living on the edge and staying up all night … these grumps escalate in so many ways, tantrums from a 9-year-old over the smallest thing, tears from a 12-year-old when asked to brush her teeth, shouting from anyone, and the list could go on and the reason for the grumps following such a joyous occasion as a “sleep-over” – TIREDNESS! They go on these bloody things and don’t sleep! They should be called “let’s-stay-up-all-night-and-then- punish-your-parents-the-next-day-overs” but oh no, they have the idyllic sounding “sleep-over” title instead …

In case you are contemplating one, think long and hard before becoming the cool parent who always organises sleep-overs … yes, they may go to bed early the next day, but there are a lot of “grunty” hours to get through before bedtime comes around. In my opinion, there is also no difference in the fall-out if the “sleep-over” is away or at home, so I have come to the conclusion, that I will soon become the parent my children hate, and I will refuse to let them have “sleep-overs” and refuse to let them go on “sleep-overs” – that is until they learn the benefit of having a nap the next day .. this I feel may be the only way forward in our house.

Maccers

Mother to three, winging it massively, and keen to share learnings of life beyond pre-schoolers. Three not necessarily the magic number ...

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