So I get on the phone and ask what's on the agenda for the evening. At first Patsy felt uncomfortable about being assertive about activities in someone else's home. But she's found most parents respect her concerns. A statement that begins with the word I is less likely to prompt defensiveness. If the other parent is evasive or scorns your concerns, your kids are probably better off at home.
Movies are a sleepover staple.
But she's not sure they'll always have the courage to speak up in a roomful of peers. So when she's talking with the parents ahead of time, she often offers to provide some family-friendly movies. Susan Minchin, also the mother of four, believes the cost is too high and has banned sleepovers altogether. I was unpleasantly surprised by some of the situations my kids ran into at sleepovers. Now we just don't do sleepovers.