Your Child's Sleepover Friend Could Be a Runaway

If your adolescent or teen wants to have a friend stay overnight at your home make sure you confirm it with the parents first before giving your approval. You might be thinking that's just plain common sense. Yes, it is but you would be surprised how easily you can inadvertently get drawn into the middle of someone's personal problems.

For example, I permitted two sisters that were friends of my kids to spend the night only to be awakened by police who informed me that the girls had ran away from home. The girls had assured me that their mother knew where they were and that they had her permission to spend the night. I tried to contact their mom by phone to confirm but was unable to reach her. I left a message on the answering machine to let her know the girls were at my house and even told her if she wanted them to come home to call and my husband would bring them home. I never received any response from her so I assumed it was okay for the girls to stay until the officers showed up. The parents were in the middle of getting a divorce and the girls were upset by their decision. That's why they decided to run away from home.

That situation made me think a little harder the next time my kids wanted to have a friend stay over. My daughter had a friend that stayed at our house quite often but it became so much of a hassle that I finally had to tell here she couldn't stay anymore. The girl's parents were divorced and she spent time with both families. Her mother would give permission for her to stay over but then her stepmother would often come pick here up in the middle of the night. They were always bickering and sometimes I just wouldn't know whom to believe.