We have just started school holidays here in our home. This is a wonderful time for your kids to have friends over and play at home away from the school in their own space. I think it is great to invite friends over and be invited to friends houses.
This can also be a tricky time and it is also a time where differences in family values come to light.
So if you are a parent who has OPK over to visit, please do not assume that what is OK for your kids is suitable for someone Else's's kids. It si a cold rainy day here today and my son has a friend, they asked if they could watch a DVD. That was fine till I asked what are you planning to watch. "Monty Python" was my 10 year olds reply. he has watched this with his father in the past. I had to quickly put the brakes on that and change tack. The reason being that "Monty Python" could be seen as inappropriate viewing for 10 year old boys, so it was not going to be viewed by someone Else's child without permission for the parent.
They happily accepted this and moved on to a more age appropriate DVD.
This also goes for Computer games, books, tv and games etc. We do not own a PlayStation, Wii, Nintendo etc in our home, so my kids love visiting friends who do have them and playing these games. However imagine my surprise to find my then 8 year old had been playing a R18 game on PlayStation while at a friends house. his was totally unacceptable to me and I did let the other parent know, that letting their child play it was their prerogative (and they had to live with the consequences) however it is not appropriate to have OPK play it without first scoping out the parents view.
So please enjoy the holidays and have loads of friends over. get them out side when the sun is shining, and supervise the choices they make on TV, Games and Internet. Never ever assume that because you allow it another will as well.
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