I forget how little they are.  Elementary school age kids.  They are babies.  Tiny.  Maybe it is because my crew…well they are grown.  Big, large, grown adult humans. At almost 19 and 21 they tower over me.  You would think I would remember how little these guys are given how  frequently I speak to elementary school students. And it is not always their size…yet different “things” that remind me of how small they are.   This week it was the tiny bathroom mirror.  The one that, at 5’1, I had to bend over to see into. It was the little first graders at recess playing the “parachute game”.  Their little bodies struggling to get the parachute up together, then struggling again to bring it down trapping air to make a little “mountain”.  Many of them standing while others were sitting.  Laughing.  Wiggling.  Bodies constantly in motion.  Just trying to figure it all out.  As they should be.  And while I largely do not speak to first and second grade, even my third graders always seem little.  Because…they are.

Thankfully, our kids fell into that sweet spot before devices and social media became deeply embedded in childhood experiences. As a baseball family, we spent years traveling and bonding with just a handful of other families. By the time sleepovers rolled around, we knew these families well and felt comfortable with the idea.

However, today’s landscape is different. Kids as young as six have access to iPads, smartphones, and games like Minecraft or Roblox. By age ten, many are navigating social media platforms, including YouTube. With this technology comes a myriad of potential issues that parents must now consider when allowing sleepovers.