Sleepover in outdoor tent

Anonymous
This was so much fun as a kid. We'd roam the neighborhood unsupervised at midnight with flashlights and meet up with other kids that coordinated a camp out the same night. We weren't supposed to do that, but we did.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:Yep, I'd be fine with it. But I'd hope a parent slept on the couch nearest to the back door, with a window open so they could hear noise.


OP here. Thanks for this suggestion. The tent would be up against the back of the house, so I’d definitely be able to open the window and sleep on the couch just on the other side of the wall.

Feeling better about this now, thanks!
Anonymous
If someone comes in the backyard and takes the kids, would you know if you are on the couch in the house? Would you know if you were in a tent next to them?
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:If someone comes in the backyard and takes the kids, would you know if you are on the couch in the house? Would you know if you were in a tent next to them?


Would you know if someone broke into your house and they didn’t come into your room when they snatch the kids out of their rooms? Would you know if you slept in the same bed as them?
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:If someone comes in the backyard and takes the kids, would you know if you are on the couch in the house? Would you know if you were in a tent next to them?


How exactly would someone take a gaggle of 9 year olds? Presumably you wouldn't advertise the party and then chance of some rando finding out about the party and snatching the girls would be exceptionally low. There is a greater risk you would all die in a fiery car crash if you took them to the movies, something no one would presumably object to.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:This sounds fun in October, but muggy buggy and disgusting right now


Ha this! Plus thinking about all of the insects/critters around on summer nights in my backyard gives me the creeps
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:If someone comes in the backyard and takes the kids, would you know if you are on the couch in the house? Would you know if you were in a tent next to them?


Would you know if someone broke into your house and they didn’t come into your room when they snatch the kids out of their rooms? Would you know if you slept in the same bed as them?


Yes, I have an alarm system and locks on my doors.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:If someone comes in the backyard and takes the kids, would you know if you are on the couch in the house? Would you know if you were in a tent next to them?


Would you know if someone broke into your house and they didn’t come into your room when they snatch the kids out of their rooms? Would you know if you slept in the same bed as them?


Yes, I have an alarm system and locks on my doors.


Oh, and my house is not made of canvas with a zipper for a door.
Anonymous
Can you lock the fences? I don't think it's let my kid do this the way you described.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:If someone comes in the backyard and takes the kids, would you know if you are on the couch in the house? Would you know if you were in a tent next to them?


Would you know if someone broke into your house and they didn’t come into your room when they snatch the kids out of their rooms? Would you know if you slept in the same bed as them?


Yes, I have an alarm system and locks on my doors.


Oh, and my house is not made of canvas with a zipper for a door.

OP, it’ll be fine, but the kid with this PP for a mom is going to decline the invite. Just carry on without her.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:If someone comes in the backyard and takes the kids, would you know if you are on the couch in the house? Would you know if you were in a tent next to them?


I’m so sorry. It must be exhausting to think this way. I hope you are treating your anxiety. The world is a scary enough place without this kind of paranoia.
Anonymous
I would be fine with this but others are not. Who cares? Different parents have different comfort levels. I would hope that my kids friends can make it if we have a party like this but would respect their choice not to come. Maybe the child could come for dinner and smores and then head home?

I don’t see the kidnapping danger, especially when it is a larger number of kids.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:If someone comes in the backyard and takes the kids, would you know if you are on the couch in the house? Would you know if you were in a tent next to them?


[Not OP]: First, I'm laughing at myself for taking this question seriously and actually answering you. But ...

Yes. I'm the PP who has hosted a camp out like this for years, and I do "sleep" on the couch with the window open. The reality of hosting this is that you don't get much sleep. You sleep on "high alert" like when your baby has croup. Also, gate latches are loud in the middle of the night and hinges creak. In the silence of night, yes, I can hear the tent zipper when a kid gets up to use the bathroom in the house or to sneak attack the kids in the other tent (we usually have two). I can even hear a kid roll over in a sleeping bag -- you know that scratchy nylon sound? I can hear them whispering. I can hear the crinkle of the wrapper of the forbidden midnight snacks (just like real camping, no food allowed in the tent). These are all things I actually did hear and (when needed) respond to over the years.

Now, I suppose if a ninja bypassed our home security cameras, silently jumped the 7-foot fence and landed like a cat, knew how to cut the tent without making the noise of ripping through nylon -- then maybe I wouldn't hear it. But that anxiety-induced, imaginary person would have been planning this target for a while (possible longer than we planned the sleep out, lol), would have been hell-bent on the crime, and could easily have broken into the house in spite of home security anyway. In any case, a genuinely low probability, the risk of which could never outweigh the value of the childhood adventure of sleeping in the backyard.
Anonymous
I can’t imagine not letting my NT 9 or 10 yos sleep in a fenced backyard?! How is that different from walking to school or going to a friends house or to the playground during the day? It’s your own property! Do you think someone will jump the fence and kidnap a gaggle of 10 year olds?
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:If someone comes in the backyard and takes the kids, would you know if you are on the couch in the house? Would you know if you were in a tent next to them?


Would you know if someone broke into your house and they didn’t come into your room when they snatch the kids out of their rooms? Would you know if you slept in the same bed as them?


Yes, I have an alarm system and locks on my doors.


Oh, and my house is not made of canvas with a zipper for a door.


+1
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