Making Your Home the Hangout foryour Children and their Friends
When you have children, it always is agood idea to have them hang out with their friends at your home.While it might seem like more work on your part, there are many morebenefits to consider. When your home is the central hub, you have theopportunity to meet their friends and ensure that they are notgetting into any kind of trouble. You can make sure they are safe andthat there is adult supervision. You can make your home a place wherechildren and teens want to hang out, if you follow some of these easysteps:
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Start early – If you are planning to stay in the neighborhood for a while, you need to establish your home as the hub while your children are still young. A good quality play set will help with this, and if you have a large enough indoor space, your children will feel comfortable having their friends over.
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Invite them – Make sure your children know that your house is an option. If they seem to hang out with one friend a lot, invite that friend over. If the parents are uncomfortable with that because they do not know you, invite the parent to come over at the same time (maybe to watch a game or have coffee) so that they can become comfortable—after all, if the parent is comfortable, the kid most likely will be as well.
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Don’t hover – As your children grow older, they will want more space. You can supervise them without suffocating them, especially if you make your rules clear from the beginning. If the kids know they can come to you with concerns, then it will put your mind at rest.
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Provide food – Everybody loves food and you don’t have to spend a lot of money to make sure that everyone is happy. Plus, this is also a great opportunity for you to make sure your child is eating healthy, since you can obviously control what they are eating a lot better than if they were at a friend’s house.
Stay involved in your child’s lifeand help make your home a center point for all the social events byfollowing these steps. In the end, it will be worth it.
