Should There Be an Age Cut-Off to Mixed-Gender Sleepovers?
My daughter has had friends of both genders since she was in diapers, and we’ve allowed mixed-gender sleepovers and slumber parties since she started having sleepovers in 2nd grade. We’ve always considered it good that she’s able to keep and maintain friendships of both genders.
She’s 10 and in 5th grade now, turning 11 in a month. The school was remote, so some of us parents created a learning pod with our kids and socially podded with the parents (we all test, etc.) to give our kids a sense of normalcy. It’s 7 kids total, 3 boys and 4 girls. They’ve all been in the same grade at the same school since 1st grade except for 1 of the girls that joined just this year.
We’ve noticed a little bit of social pull this year as the girls have started developing a bit; 1 of them is already wearing a bra every day, and the rest, including my daughter, has started poking out and been acting a little more concerned for her privacy than she used to. The boys, meanwhile, as boys do, are lagging behind and not really noticing as far as I can tell.
In any case, since we’ve been social bubbling with this group all year, we’ve allowed them to continue to have their sleepovers once or twice a month, and they all always enjoy it (and the parents enjoy a night off). My…
