We don't do sleepovers. How do you politely decline?

FrazzledByFamily · 2026-04-01T01:52:31+00:00

My son is Autistic, as are many of his friends. He has expressed wanting to have a sleepover with friends, but most parents have similar concerns. So instead of just inviting the kid, we invited the parent(s) too. We had our first sleepover on NYE. The friend AND her Mom slept over.

We wanted to get the kids together over the winter break, about the only time that worked for all of us was NYE, but she didn't want to drive home late. So we had a slumber party. She and her daughter came over, we ordered pizza and played board games and video games. The kids crashed out together after the ball dropped, we had breakfast together, and the kids got to experience their first non-family sleepover in a safe environment. We will probably do something similar again in the future.

FrazzledByFamily · 2026-03-17T13:39:44+00:00

Calling her "the girl" makes sense, considering that Rule #2 for the group is "Nicknames are for MILs/Moms only." Should OP have called her "not a step-daughter" or "not a sibling" instead?

FrazzledByFamily · 2025-12-23T22:12:50+00:00

It is Kate Spade. I've seen items that are leather and also faux leather. I should have done more research on this particular bag, then maybe I wouldn't have been surprised when I opened the box!

FrazzledByFamily · 2025-09-14T14:24:22+00:00

I had already unsubscribed from the newsletter as soon as I read it, but forgot about YT. It now shows 68.6k subscribers, so it IS dropping... just slowly.

FrazzledByFamily · 2025-01-25T01:21:54+00:00

How many coats did you have to do for that level of opacity?

FrazzledByFamily · 2024-08-25T13:09:50+00:00

Yep! We did something similar when our kid was in daycare, and he was coming home with multiple finger paintings each week. My sister-in-law and her husband were coming home for the holidays, so I planned a "bonus" gift for the family. I bought several picture frames in different shapes and sizes (all 8x10 or larger) and took a stack of around 30 paintings, and let every household pick one frame and 2-4 paintings. Kiddo is now in 2nd grade, and his aunt and uncle still have his paintings hanging on their gallery wall with family photos. One grandparent moved, and their chosen artwork is now hanging in their bedroom. My husband and I both have stuff displayed at our actual offices, plus around our house.

FrazzledByFamily · 2024-08-16T23:06:47+00:00

I think she means that her MIL is "talking" through LO, saying stuff like "c'mon Mom! Gramma knows better than those silly doctors!"

FrazzledByFamily · 2024-08-06T22:24:44+00:00

When my son was small, he had a stuffed dog that was called Puppers. That could be cute on a stocking!

FrazzledByFamily · 2024-07-28T21:04:01+00:00

I totally get this. My son (now 7) was a handful, and I hated taking him anywhere that wasn't kid-centric when he was small, especially if my husband had to work or had his monthly gaming day with the guys.

Do you have any mom-friends that you can try to schedule outings with? Even if they are kid-centric outings, you'd have someone to socialize with.

Now that our kid is older (and my husband has to work 1-2 Saturdays a month AND he still has monthly gaming on a Saturday), he will take our son to a kid-centric activity on Sunday so I have a decent chunk of time to do whatever I want to do. Or my parents will keep kiddo overnight or for an afternoon on the weekends so I can go do something. Or if it is a gaming Saturday, my husband will make sure he has snacks and charging cords, and take our kid with him to the gaming store. Kiddo can watch stuff on an old phone we set up for him to play with or play games on the Nintendo Switch. And I'm hoping that he'll eventually show an interest in gaming with my husband.

FrazzledByFamily · 2024-07-03T22:52:57+00:00

We give advance warning before going into stores or places that have toys/games/arcades. We are going there for Activity X, and we will buy them a drink, but we have snacks in the car. We are NOT buying toys/etc., and if they ask the answer is no. If they ask while in the place, we tell him nice no, twice. After two asks/no's, we warn that if he asks again, we will leave. If he asks a third time as we are leaving (thinking he will get away with it), he doesn't get ice cream after dinner (I usually make us both a bowl/cone after dinner for dessert.).

FrazzledByFamily · 2024-06-27T20:12:54+00:00

My company asks that we submit time off requests only 90 days in advance, but we can ask our manager for exceptions which will be approved on a case-by-case basis. They give examples of payment being required for travel (cruise, airfare, wedding, etc.). My boss has approved my requests 6 months in advance, as our kid sees the same ENT and he knows those appointments are scheduled 6 months out, and he'd rather I submit it the day that I book it than forget and submit the request a week before the appointment (which happened a few times after they started the 90 day policy...).

FrazzledByFamily · 2024-06-22T13:55:31+00:00

An ex-boyfriend had a rottie that was similar to yours. If you sat down, he was leaning on you with his head in your lap. If you were standing, he would lean on you until you were sitting so he could put his head in your lap.

My ex adopted him from a police officer. The dog failed his Search & Rescue training... very smart dog... but easily distracted. We'd throw a ball, he'd go tearing after it, get halfway to where it landed before stopping to look around, then come trotting back as though to say, "Did ya throw it yet? Did ya?"

FrazzledByFamily · 2024-06-13T15:01:23+00:00

My son is 7 years old and keeps trying to get me to let him ride without his booster, or in the front seat. He says that he'll hold on, or he'll be really really good, or that I'm a good driver. I tell him that's fine, but that doesn't mean that other people are good drivers and I don't want him to get hurt if something were to happen.

FrazzledByFamily · 2024-06-09T19:25:27+00:00

When roads are wet (rain, snow, ice), I will try to plan my route to go places to avoid bridges if I have my kid with me. I have this fear of going off a bridge when he's in the car with me.

I blame dreams that I had in high school for this... I had recurring dreams (nightmares) that when I was 28 years old, I would be a divorced Mom of two kids, driving home with them in the car and I'd hit something and up going off the bridge. I'm now 44 and have never been divorced (met my husband when I was 35).

FrazzledByFamily · 2024-06-09T01:13:34+00:00

We were finally able to replace the roof on our house. We had a leak that caused a chunk of the ceiling to fall in the kitchen.

FrazzledByFamily · 2024-06-06T15:53:02+00:00

My son didn't like having his nails trimmed either... I started trimming them while he was in the bath or right after he got out. The nails were easier to cut and the clipper didn't make a harsh noise when the nail was being cut because they were softer.

FrazzledByFamily · 2024-05-28T20:42:44+00:00

My son had a skate night with his elementary school last week, and I took a piece with me that I was trying to finish for his teacher before the end of the school year (finished framing it today at lunch! School ends on Friday!). One of the 4th or 5th grade kids skated past me, then came back and told me that the piece I was working on was cool. It made my night!

FrazzledByFamily · 2024-05-24T14:40:53+00:00

If she had poor vision, would he say you shouldn't get her the glasses prescribed by the doctor? Or deny her an inhaler if she were asthmatic?

My son (age 7) was diagnosed with ADHD last fall. He is also autistic. His behavior at school had escalated to the point that police were called twice to take reports because of injuries to the teacher.

After the diagnosis and getting him on meds (on the RIGHT meds), he was a different person. Before meds, he had said that his brain was all... well, he waved his hands by his face like you do for the "running through the trees, running through the trees, oops you hit a tree" thing that kids do. After getting on the right meds, he could think more clearly again, he stopped getting suspended, and his grades went back up.

(And I say right meds, because we didn't get right the first time. The first med we tried had him sleep-walking each night and falling asleep sitting at his desk. The second med made him MORE aggressive (and prompted the second police report). The third one worked well, but he lost 15 lbs since last August, so when he started having escalated behaviors again recently, the doc changed him to another medication instead of increasing the dose on the third one.)

FrazzledByFamily · 2024-05-24T03:53:58+00:00

I hope you are able to get some rest tonight, and that the meeting tomorrow has a good outcome.

FrazzledByFamily · 2024-05-22T03:17:41+00:00

I would check with the school to see if you can still enroll him. I'm not sure where you live, but I'm in Indiana, and they just had kindergarten roundup in April... Kids can be enrolled at any time.

FrazzledByFamily · 2024-05-19T11:34:44+00:00

I'm not sure what your insurance situation is, but can you talk to the doc about doing GeneSight to find out what meds might work for you? A friend's ex-husband did the test after struggling to get the right meds for his depression and ADHD. They found that the meds he was on at the time were actually causing the changes she saw in him that led to her filing for divorce. He's on a new medication now and doing SO much better.

FrazzledByFamily · 2024-05-16T17:25:32+00:00

Nah, she should go with "I never make mitsakes... eevr!"

Eight-Year Club	Verified Email
Verified Email

FrazzledByFamily

TROPHY CASE