Anonymous wrote:Head to a park instead.

You can still have good adult conversations there and then you don't have to clean up your house afterwards.

If your friends decline then you know where those friendships stand.

+1

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Both moms are stay at home moms. So it can’t be justified with working full time.

OP, people in this area are overwhelmed with life. It takes an hour just to drive down the street. People are in over their heads. The sooner you get this, the better.

Have ZERO expectations of other people, and do NOT expect their bar to be very high.

Head to a park instead.

You can still have good adult conversations there and then you don't have to clean up your house afterwards.

If your friends decline then you know where those friendships stand.

OP here. Both moms are stay at home moms. So it can’t be justified with working full time.

Anonymous wrote:Um, hello, why don’t YOU hire a babysitter? Have the babysitter supervise pizza and a movie in the basement.

Why don't you, then?

Anonymous[b wrote:]If your friends are asking you to babysit for free…..[/b]and they act like this, then you have every right to decline.

It sounds like your friends are very permissive parents & yes, their children should be taught better manners.

Until they do - then I would decline having them in your home for now.

+1

Learn this early, OP. Keep your own peace and sanity. You are not anyone else's keeper but your own.

Um, hello, why don’t YOU hire a babysitter? Have the babysitter supervise pizza and a movie in the basement.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Do parents just give up? Do they just let it go because teaching manners takes a lot of effort?

Absolutely. Some parents do minimal work and tend to be lazy. They tend to FIND the parents who are not lazy. I would love to hear from more not lazy parents, rather than the lazy ones.

You notice some people hardly host, while other parents do their share? If you have not seen it yet, you will!

You will also find parents who claim they work full time, but barely put in a couple hours a week. Don't ask me why they had kids.

Since you asked.

PP here. To add, if this is not you, don't worry about it.

To elaborate, they say they work full time because they have other issues and can't deal with their kids. At all. Instead of getting help, they wallow. It sucks for those of us who are generous.

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Do parents just give up? Do they just let it go because teaching manners takes a lot of effort?

Absolutely. Some parents do minimal work and tend to be lazy. They tend to FIND the parents who are not lazy. I would love to hear from more not lazy parents, rather than the lazy ones.

You notice some people hardly host, while other parents do their share? If you have not seen it yet, you will!

You will also find parents who claim they work full time, but barely put in a couple hours a week. Don't ask me why they had kids.

Since you asked.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most parents have kids like this, IMO, OP. Host outside only or in a park.

No they don't.

I agree with both PPs. Most parents do NOT have kids that act like this regularly, and if the kid does act up, the parent would stop them. However, since these kids do act this way, I agree that hosting outside or at least an alternate location, might be your best bet to manage the situation.

If your friends are asking you to babysit for free…..and they act like this, then you have every right to decline.

It sounds like your friends are very permissive parents & yes, their children should be taught better manners.

Until they do - then I would decline having them in your home for now.

OP here. Do parents just give up? Do they just let it go because teaching manners takes a lot of effort?

Anonymous wrote:Most parents have kids like this, IMO, OP. Host outside only or in a park.

No they don't.

Most parents have kids like this, IMO, OP. Host outside only or in a park.

I like to hang out with adults and we have some interesting conversations, but I hate having their kids over. They can’t afford to hire a babysitter for the night and have 3 and 2 kids ranging 3 - 12. OMG, it’s like a zoo. Kids have no manners and no boundaries. They scream, do gymnastics on our coach, jump on our beds, bang on the piano, run around the house with food dropping it on the floors and touching every wall with greasy hands.

Parents completely ignore this behavior as they consider it normal. This is what they do at home.