When my daughter was 10 she began bringing more and more friends home from school with her.
They would attack my frig and wipe out leftovers and any thing they could quickly "nuke" and nosh.
I had to start stocking up on snack food to protect my family dinner plans! We often ate leftovers for another meal, prior to the invasion of the starving tweens.
The bad news was the jump in my grocery bill! The good news -several excellent things: One - I really got to know my kids friends quite well.
Hungry kids linger in the kitchen ( my territory ) and talk and befriend the source of the food supply - me.
I taught them how to cook a few simple items and learned a lot about these girls who were my kids posse.
Two- Having kids hang out at your home where you know what they are doing is a VERY good thing.
The TV was in the family room where I monitored the content and I quietly observed their games and conversation .
Again getting insight into their personalities and morals.
Three- The kids parents would retrieve them at some point and I got to know them as well.
Invite them in for a few minutes - chat a little.
Very important to know the people where your child will want to spend their time and have sleepovers.
Four- I never again stumbled across any moldy surprises in the back of my frig- nothing could hide from these scavengers long enough to turn bad.
So don't be disheartened when the masses come to "pig out" at your home and your grocery bill takes a hike.
You are going to gain a world of insight into your tweens social circle and that's and excellent way to stay connected to your kid as she grows into the teen years when communicating can be difficult.
For more great advice for parenting tweens go to http://www.
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com