If you can't handle having people over, then don't have people over. There. Problem solved. I had pretty much no sleepovers as a kid because my mom "didn't want to clean up after us" I went to many because conveniently one of my friends couldn't handle sleeping at other people's houses so she always had them.

Dude. Sleepovers are where I did the majority of bonding with the gals who turned out to be lifelong friends. We'd stay up all night, talking, communicating, sharing secrets, building trust. Sleepovers made middle and high school easier! They are healthy and super fun.

Looking back, I get the feeling my mom LOVED when I went to sleepovers so she could get rid of me for the night.

One of the huge benefits of sleepovers is that they can help combat homesickness and foster (some) independence.

Exactly! Sounds like a bunch of control freak, helicopter parent garbage to me, too.

This is the stupidest thing in the world. My parents, bless them, never put barriers in my way, whether I wanted to invite 13 of my besties over for the 13th birthday (an epic party we still talk about 25 years later) or if I ended up having a week-long sleepover at a friend's house because we got snowed in and…

No. Sleepover rules state that only one child may cry and insist on going home. All other parties must stay, watch a horror movie and be freaked out while pretending they are not freaked out.

My guess would be a combination of the two.

Sleepovers are a useful method of teaching teens and even preteens how it feels to function after a night of no sleep. They're gonna have to learn sooner or later.

My mother said when she was a kid she was never able to handle sleepovers well, so she would have liked this because she'd end up crying and would be driven home anyway. But I loved them, and you feel kinda independent after.

Ridiculous. The whole point is staying up most of the night talking, watching movies, listening to records, eating too much, and trying to be the last one to fall asleep. It's like 10 to 12 hours of pure kid fun with several of your friends.

I'll always remember the time I was invited to a sleepover at the house of the new girl who had just moved from South Africa. I was so excited. I thought I'd made it. She was so popular and still had that new girl popularity, and she's chosen ME.

I'm not terribly shocked. I had a friend who wouldn't allow her daughter to go to sleepovers and had never held a sleepover at her house. Her daughter was in 7th grade. I was horrified for this poor middle school girl being denied participation in this time honored ritual!

The only thing more fun than a "Sleepunder" is an"Unmovie Night" where its actually daytime and instead of watching movies everybody has to help clean the garage.

Fabulous. Breeding a generation of kids who are completely and utterly terrified of leaving their parents care for more 12 hours at a time.

Hey Jess,

Today's parents ruin EVERYTHING.

All of the worst, most-gossipy, most-likely-to-make-you-eat-a-salad-that-isn't-even-healthy moms were the ones who tried to make this a thing when I was little. My parents, on the other hand, would round up all the kids of three families at one house, hire a babysitter, and go out together, not even bothering to ask…

...I don't get it. Is this just parents not wanting kids to sleep at their house or something? Or is it helicopter parents who don't want their own kids gone for the night?

This would have been great for my kiddo before I adopted her. Foster children have restrictions that basically eliminate sleep overs. A couple of times when she mentioned a sleepover, we talked about using "having to go somewhere early" as an excuse to stay til 1op or 11p but not overnight. I hosted one sleepover and…