New subject. Slightly on the heavy side. Sleepovers. What's your opinion? Last year, My husband and I both decided and agreed that we are not for sleepovers for kids.

I was a kid once and I know what can happen at sleep overs. It's just like they say, the Holy Ghost goes to bed at midnight. Now granted, things happen in broad daylight too but I would say most happens in the dark. Kids are curious and will play nasty sometimes, I am aware of that and it is a choice they make to do. Then there are the times when it is not their choice and would definitely be termed sexual abuse.

I have a dear friend who's son, when he was about 10, went to stay with his dad for a few weeks. That dad had remarried to his ex-sister-in-law. She had 2 kids. So all three kids were cousins and step brothers and sisters. They were all within a few years of each other. Well, one night, this boy was woken up to his cousin doing something VERY bad to him. The 10 year old was mortified and did stop it but was ashamed to tell anyone. He went into a depression, became closed, his grades went down and no one new why. It was 2 years later when this boy and his mom happened to be watching Oprah, and the show was about this very thing, that he said something. Come to find out that the boy who did it too him had had it done to him and so on. These children had something happen to them that they will NEVER be able to forget. It will always be there.

I don't want this for my kids. Yes, it may seem over protective but I would rather they miss out than have to heal the scars for the rest of their lives. I have seem what sexual abuse can do to a person. My mom was abused, my 2 older sisters, my 2 closest friends. It destroys.

The reason it is on my mind is that my little sister wanted our 2 boys to get together Who never see each other much. They are very close. I love her son and he is wonderful and I really don't think anything would happen but we have already made this rule. My sister says she supervises but no one can supervise when they are asleep in their own bed.

Many people feel safer because they say they don't let their children go just anywhere. Do you realize that MOST children are abused by family and close friends? It is seldom someone who is not known well and you can never know. It doesn't matter if a man is a returned missionary, or bishop or priest or whatever. We all know that from the news.

You can't shield your kids from everything, but there are somethings we can do. One of my hero's in life is the mom of one of my best friends. Her name is JoAnn Hibbert-Hamilton. She is kind of famous in the church for being a child advocate. I spent a lot of time at her house as a young teen. She never let her kids have sleepovers and I hated that. I thought she was a prude and over protective. It drove me nuts because there were no such rules at our house. Now I admire her conviction when others ridiculed her. Her kids did have their own struggles but in the end, I think they are all active in the gospel. In my family, out of 9 kids, I am the only one. Hmmmm.

Anyway, I had told my sister that we'd better not. If I say yes here, I have to say yes there. Unless it's a family trip our camp out, the answer is no.