Tomorrow night, I will be hanging out at my friend’s house to watch the BCS National Championship Game (specifically to watch LSU win). Because the game starts at 8:30 and it probably won’t end to some time after 11 P.M., I am going to be spending the night at his house afterwards. This will be my first time sleeping over at a friend’s house on a school night, so I thought I would post my thoughts on it.
- Sleepovers on school nights require mature children. Having a sleepover on a school night with young kids will result in an absolute disaster the next day. Young (or immature) kids will stay up too late and be wrecks the next day at school. Even if they are well behaved, young kids need a lot of sleep and will still probably not get enough. Older kids will go to bed at an appropriate time or at least be able to handle the consequences at school the next day.
- Try to control what they are eating and drinking. As a general rule, I don’t consume caffeinated beverages after about 7 P.M. on school nights. Although they don’t normally affect me, sometimes they do, so I try to avoid it. Similar rules should be considered on school night sleepovers. If they aren’t, lack of sleep could be a major problem.
- Try to consider what the kids will need to pack. For example, I am not bringing a sleeping bag because I would have to bring it to school the next day. Rather, I’m just packing my clothes into my wrestling bag and bringing my backpack too. This seemed to be the simplest answer to that dilemma.
Sleepovers on school nights may seem to be complicated and a pain in the rump, but there are some situations (like the BCS National Championship Game or the Super Bowl) where it is completely worth the hassle.