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Strollerderby
Heard of the Sleep-Under?
I feel like Bernie Mac (may he rest in peace) here, but America, it’s time to get a grip.
Parents are opting out on one of the time honored traditions of childhood because they can’t let their little darlings spend an entire night being exposed to . . . well, anything.
Bye, bye sleepover. Hello sleep-under? Half-over? WTF?
I had never heard of this nonsense until I read an article about the parents who say they let their kids spend a late night at a friend’s house, but are willing to drive across town at 10 or 11 to pick the kids up just to have them sleeping under their own roof.
From the AP: “Come in your jammies, bring junk food, play all the games you want, but at a certain point these children will be tucked in under their own roof where their parents know the rules about R-rated movies, Internet use and adult supervision.”
Come on parents! If you’re so afraid your kid might see a naughty skin flick at their friend’s house, why are you letting them out at all? Let’s roll out the bubble and snap on the chastity belts!
Let me just say I had plenty of sleepovers from grade school on, and some of the worst of the debauchery was in my very own home (there was even a co-ed sleepover once – yes, he’s gay). The whipped cream fights? At my house. The attempts to light things on fire? Ditto.
What happened at other parents’ houses was relatively sane and safe in comparison – probably because my parents weren’t likely to drop me off at a house where they thought untoward things were going to happen to me . . . certainly not anywhere that they thought things would get substantially worse after midnight. Just a thought, but why would they have let me go there if they were worried?
I know this will totally blow these parents’ minds, but a little newsflash: The R-rated movies? The Internet use? Can both happen well before curfew.
Oooh, now I’ve gone and said it. Slap me with my big scarlet P for bad parenting and buy me a bubble.
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0 Comments
Mistress_Scorpio commented on Aug 06 09 at 12:11 pmTotally off topic, but I so want to hear you do a Bernie Mac impression when you do the radio show next…
And on topic? This is just another helicopter parenting symptom.
Tina commented on Aug 06 09 at 12:44 pmMy overprotective mother never let me sleep over at friends’ houses, despite my many protests. I’m sure it had to do with the creepy dad factor she envisioned. By the time I got to high school, I preferred to sleep in my own bed anyway. Still, I feel like I missed a big part of childhood!
jeannesager commented on Aug 06 09 at 12:52 pmMistress – hehe – I have a deep enough voice for a woman, I might be able to swing it! My husband was watching Mr. 3000 the other day, and Bernie’s been stuck in my head!
PlumbLucky commented on Aug 06 09 at 3:15 pmI wish someone had told me that pointing out the obvious, that “bad things can happen before curfew”, was NOT going to help my argument, especially when spat out in a snotty tone, when I was around 12. That was the one house I wasn’t allowed to sleepover, period. (In hindsight, I didn’t miss anything except some experimentation with, bad things). Other than that, I went to and hosted my fair share. I’m floored. Is this another thing our children won’t ever experience?
bravo commented on Aug 06 09 at 3:25 pmKudos, Jeanne. I’m so glad I got to experience childhood in the scary, risky, bad old days.
Lorraine commented on Aug 07 09 at 12:55 pmWhy are we getting worked up over this? Just as there were parents who didn’t allow their kids to sleepover at a friend’s house when we were growing up, there are also parents now who won’t allow it. This is not something the majority of parents won’t let their kids do.
Tabatha commented on Aug 11 09 at 10:47 amI have to agree with Jeannesager… the point isn’t that some parents won’t allow sleepovers but that they will allow their children in someone else home but then go pick them up late in the evening… it’s ridiculous. You either trust the parents in charge or you don’t!!!
Gigi commented on Sep 20 09 at 9:10 pmThis is a different perspective entirely but the reason I am particularly fond of sleep unders has nothing to do with mistrusting the host parents and everything to do with my child’s age (6) and her comfort level with spending the night at someone else’s house. I think sleep unders are much more common with this younger age group than older kids for this very reason. My daughter gets to put on her jammies for a play date, brings her favorite stuffed animal, eats pizza, watches a movie and then when it’s bed time, comes home. It’s a win-win for everyone – she thinks she had a fabulous time with friends, the host parents don’t have to contend with crying kids in the middle of the night wanting their own parents and beds, and I don’t have to worry about her being afraid in someone else’s home. I’m a fan!!!
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