Letting children go with others

I have the same problem as you. I don't know a lot of the parents of my kids friends. My children get mad at me because I won't let them go any where to stay all night. I also feel that just saying hi once in a while does not mean I know them well enough for my kids to stay all night at their house. My daughter is 15 and she has never stayed all night except at families house. My son gets mad because he is 9 and says it is not fair that he can't have friends over or stay all night with his friends. I don't care if he has friends over but we are hardly ever home and never know when we will be home. He goes to his dads every other weekend and once in a while to his grandmas on my weekends and then we go do family things when he is home. We are always taking little trips here and there. I told him last weekend that he can not holler not fair. I never let his sister go over night and she hardly ever had friends over and that unless he wanted to stay home and not go any where he would have to get over not being able to spend the night or have friends over. We do have family over to stay the night on occasion. It is hard for me to let my kids go to people I don't know well, to many stories of child molestation even with boys now a days. I had people try things with me as a kid and I don't want my kids to go through that.

Why not have a party, invite your child's friends and parents. That way not only do you get to know your child's friends but you get to know their parents aswell. Im not a parent but have qualified in childcare. I wouldnt like the idea of my child to spend the night round at a friends if i didnt know the parents. I wouldnt mind my child going to their friends houses if the parent collected/dropped my child or I took them round myself. I wouldnt let the children walk round on their own.

well when my kids were younger, i was like you so i only let my daughters stay o/n with someone that i knew (ie parents) but now they are 11 and 14 and the older one has a cell to let us know where she is (she still has rules though!!) and my 11 year old has to let us know where she is and is going.

I never let my children go anywhere with their friends without meeting their parents! There are so many child molesters and other miscreants around nowadays that you don't dare not screen their friends' parents--and their friends! One good side effect of knowing the parents is that your child will behave better and be less tempted to do something wrong. Your child will also know he/she is loved and this makes a huge difference! My kids' friends complained that their parents didn't care where they went and I heard them tell my kids they were lucky their mom loved them--they equate keeping track of them and knowing their friends and parents with love. Well, I hoped my rambling helped a bit! You can never, ever be too involved in your child's life. You do have to know when to back off and allow a little freedom but staying involved lets them know they're loved and gives them the confidence they need to live a good life.

why dont you invite some of the kids around to your house first and that way you will get to meet the parents. The first time my son goes to a friends house that i have never met, i will only let him stay a little while. I will say, " i will pick you up once i have done the groceries", so that way i can be a bit flexible with time.