Would you let your DC attend this sleepover?

[Monr0e]

just curious as to what others think and would do.

DD been invited to a sleepover at the beginning of August for a close friend's birthday. I am good friends with her mum and she has said she completely understands if we say no.

The sleepover will be in a tent in the garden. It is a large 8 berth tent, each of the 4 girls will have their own sleeping pod with a central area in the middle. DFriend is putting together little bags for the girls for when they arrive containing a face mask, hand sanitiser and tissue (plus a few other treaty bits)
They have a downstairs loo the girls can use overnight separate from the family bathroom.

She knows I am hesitant and has asked if there is anything else she can put in place that would make it OK.

So would you let your DC go?
Or would it be a flat no? And if so, what else would you say she could do that might change your mind?

The other 2 girls have accepted so DD is really keen to go. Thank you.

No

This is almost the exact situation I am in! I thought you might be one of the other parents but the DDs in our case are 12 not 10. But as with your situation, DD has been invited for sleepover in tent in her friend’s garden for the friend’s 12th birthday. Don’t think their garden is big enough to have a massive tent with separate compartments.

We are going to say no, even though it’s one of DD’s closest friends. Several households staying overnight with each other is not within the guidelines - and that includes people sleeping in different rooms in the same house not being allowed.

Even though two household ARE allowed to stay overnight together, they are still meant to practise social distancing whilst in the same house.

So I actually think staying in a tent is worse, from an infection control perspective - even if the vents are open, most tents are pretty small, enclosed spaces with actually very little air circulation. There is no way at all that excited children will social distance in a tent - they will definitely be very close to each other, touching each other etc. Going to school, sitting in large ventilated classrooms, where they are trying to keep the children largely apart (eg facing the front, being outside as much as possible etc etc) is different. I just don’t think the sleepover is worth the risk.

Yes I would, if an adult will be in a nearby tent.

Yes 100%

Not after Sophie Hook

DC1 does exactly this for their party every year, best time ever, every time!
BUT
It's very unfair of your DD's friend's mum to put you in this position. Massive eye roll from me. What's the point in all the other stuff we're all doing all the time to reduce spread when flagrant breeches of the guidelines, which have been put in place for the greater good, are encouraged. We all think that our little transgressions won't matter, but clearly, sometimes they do.

Yes I would let my child attend the sleep over.

Sure

No.

Yes

I would definitely permit this .
It sounds like great fun

Yes

There's no fucking way I'd let my daughter sleep in a tent outside without an adult with her.

This ^

That's me though. I know lots of people are happy to allow it. But OP you say the parent is planning to give them masks, surely that will dim any fun?

No but then I'm an over protective mum!!

It would depend on how secure the garden is, and a 6ft fence with a padlocked gate wouldn't work for me.

We had one sleepover like this I couldn't sleep all night. One of those daft seemed like a good idea at the time, and I suggested it as a last minute sleepover idea.

It occured to me as they lay there, 6ft is nothing, I'm nowhere near that and I could scale one. Plus I know little about foxes other than make a lot of noise and attack at night. But once that fence thought crept in, so did other things like how easy it is to break a padlock.

Yes

Is it face mask as in a mask or a beauty/pamper mask? I'm not sure what I'd think, mine aren't old enough yet for things like this, but would probably say yes as long as parents were definitely spending the night in the conservatory with the windows fully open so they can hear anything. But also the door in to the conservatory and house will also need to be unlocked so not sure on that, I think that's what would put me off hosting a party like this.

I would provided COVID rules have changed by then. My dds have camped with Guides since the age of 10 (no adult in the tent there either!) and it’s never occurred to me to worry about it!

No one knows what the rules will be at that point. Your friend is actually really quite daft gettIng her daughters hopes up. I don’t have a small child that I can disappoint. All her comments of I understand if not really she is putting on gentle pressure in a nice way. I actually think a tent for air flow reasons is a bad idea. You have been shielding and your DD would be in a small enclosed space with kids whose parents have had to mix due to work.

It’s a no from me.

Thanks again everyone. It seems many are more concerned with the safety aspect rather than the covid aspect. I will speak to her more about this but I am confident the girls would be very well taken care of in this respect.

I am even more torn this morning with the new school guidelines being released. It seems that from a couple of weeks later they will all be in school together 5 days a week anyway with their classroom bubbles with social distancing encouraged but not enforced! I had a feeling BoJo would do this as there is no other way of getting all the kids back in for September otherwise.

To answer a few other questions, I am not sure about the masks, I think it was more a novelty thing rather than they all have to wear them all the time.

My DD is an experienced camper and we have camped many times so she would have no problem sleeping in the tent.

The windows would definitely be open and the door unlocked as the girls will have access straight through to the downstairs toilet. DF may even leave the door ajar, I am not certain but could ask.

For whoever mentioned it, I am not shielding, both myself and my husband have worked fulltime throughout and we have no one in the family who is shielding. Up until this point though we have stuck to guidelines, only leaving the house for work and shopping and the DC's have not seen anyone.