Do your children’s school friends and neighborhood kids like to hang out at your house? When I was growing up, our house was the hang out. We spent a lot of time outside during good weather, but my mom didn’t seem to mind having a bunch of kids inside when it was cold or raining. I didn’t realize until much later that she liked it that way because she could keep track of my brother and I easier, if we and our friends were hanging around the house.
If you want your home to be the hang out, there are ways to accomplish this without disrupting your home and the rest of your family. One good option is to select a space that is best suited to hanging out. That space may be your child’s bedroom. However, if your child’s friends include boys and girls, this may not be appropriate. You may want to designate the family room as a space for kids to gather.
Growing up, the basement was where we spent a lot of time. Even though it was an unfinished area, we thought it was pretty cool to have our own space. We talked Mom into letting us spruce it up. We cleaned, de-cluttered, and painted to brighten it up. We even painted the floor with special paint and threw in some old accent rugs and a piece of leftover carpet to add a little softness at warmth. We obviously didn’t see it that way at the time, we just wanted a comfortable area to sit with our friends, listen to music, watch TV, snack, giggle, play games, and gossip.
We were instructed to leave the basement door open and no couples were allowed to be alone downstairs. Overall, we were able to have a good time without causing Mom and Dad too much grief.
If you have an unfinished space or one that is not regularly used by the entire family, you might want to help your kids fix it up so they can hang out. Provide enough privacy that they feel comfortable, and at the same time enough supervision to keep them out of trouble. The best part is that you’ll generally know where your kids are and you’ll know they aren’t out running the streets getting into trouble because they are bored and have nowhere to go.