As a mother of two boys, I know all about sleepovers. You have a house full of kids, who don’t want to sleep and who eat continuously through the day and night. Sleepovers are fun times for children. But, be cautioned. You need to protect your children from other children and even their parents who may have a bad influence on them as well as anyone else who may be in the home when your children are there for the sleepover.
I did not welcome invitations from parents whom I didn’t know. Random sleepovers were not permitted. If I knew the parents and children, I would inquire as to what types of activities were planned; who would be supervising the children; what would they be eating and drinking; and what types of games were they going to play.
Even after so much scrutiny and diligence though, something slipped by. I remember picking up my oldest son from a sleepover late one morning. He was about 10 years old at the time. As I arrived at the house, I walked in the front door to the living room. I then observed my son playing a video game with another boy. As I looked closely, to my shock and dismay, the video game involved hitting and kicking women all over their bodies (including their heads, stomachs, and private parts) in fight scenes. This was a family who attended church regularly, but the parents were not monitoring the types of video games in their house. On the drive home, I explained to my son about the problem with that video game and that men should not hit women. During the following week at church, I even spoke with the parents about the game. When I observed their nonchalant attitude, I knew my son was not going to spend time there again.