Young gay sleepover

My 14-year-old gay son wants a sleepover

My 14-year-old son just came out to me. He has a slightly older boyfriend, and they’re going to the school dance on Saturday night. I am adjusting to a truth I had long suspected. I am worried, though, that my son will earn hurt. We stay in the South—North Carolina—but our town has a homosexual community and an annual pride pride. When I asked him if the other students at school would be cool with him bringing a male child, he said, “Who cares?” Bullying is not a massive problem at his school.

We have had the sex discuss several times, but I have always assumed a hetero approach. I ponder my son is too young for sleepovers with his boyfriend, and I would really fancy him to remain a couple more years before he gets seriously sexually active, though I expect petting and kissing are givens. Any advice?

> Still My Son

Treat your son to some of that matching treatment we lgbtq+ people are always going on about, SMS, and deal with him just enjoy you’d treat your 14-year-old straight kid. No responsible parent would allow his 14-year-old daughter—and that’s how you should think of him for now (more on that in a moment)—to hold sleepovers with her slightly older boyf
young gay sleepover

Should I let my male lover daughter have a sleepover with a same-sex friend?

 

Q: How do you propose handling same-sex sleepovers when your 13-year-old daughter identifies as gay? She and her best friend might be more than friends (she’s implied such when I’ve gently asked), so I don’t know how to handle them hanging out alone, either after school when no adults are home or during sleepovers when the adults are asleep.

A: When I first read this, I began to go down an LGBTQ+ rabbit hole and found information you could learn from (and I will still provide you with resources), but that isn’t what is needed here. This isn’t a matter of “gay” or “straight” sleepovers. This is about two main issues: your family values and communication with your youthful teen.

I am going to guess that you didn’t grow up with many examples of how to parent gay youth; I know I certainly didn’t. I also don’t reflect I would have gotten a question like this eight years ago, leave alone two. The landscape of considerations for parents when it comes to sleepovers and romance is changing, but don’t overcomplicate it. Your young teen, gay or straight, still needs to know what values are important in your

Bunking with a buddy, but not in the gay way

I feel it’s about time I deal with the lost art of the sleepover. And I’m not talking about the collegiate ‘Let me put the suggestion in’ sleepover, but the good old-fashioned sleepover (Sidebar 1: Girls called sleepovers “slumber parties,” which, from what I understand, involved more chatter and toenail painting, presumably to distinguish between the proliferation of penises or hoohahs in a given living room). To be fair, I always thought “slumber party” sounded more festive. And yes, I did match a white belt with my all pale Bo Jacksons today.

Between 1990-1997, sleepovers had a general monopoly over the extracurricular activity circuit where I was growing up. Getting dropped off at the movies didn’t really start till seventh grade (where I come from, public transportation was only respectable to and from the beach in the summers of 1997 and 1998), so if you wanted to be with your buddies, you had to link up via the overnight. In the days of yore, sleepovers were fraught with anticipation (one of the many reasons Friday was the very leading day of the week).

Lots of planning went into

American CIA Field Operative, Johnnie Allen, is assigned to Denmark for his first mission. An American agent highly placed in the Kremlin is to be spirited out of Russia, and it is Johnnie's j... Read allAmerican CIA Field Operative, Johnnie Allen, is assigned to Denmark for his first mission. An American spy highly placed in the Kremlin is to be spirited out of Russia, and it is Johnnie's occupation to get him safely to Antwerp where the agent will board a freighter. Johnnie, who is a ... Read allAmerican CIA Field Operative, Johnnie Allen, is assigned to Denmark for his first mission. An American agent highly placed in the Kremlin is to be spirited out of Russia, and it is Johnnie's job to get him safely to Antwerp where the agent will board a freighter. Johnnie, who is a young same-sex attracted man, meets and falls in love with a Danish lad named Sander, who is apparently s... Read all

  • See production info at IMDbPro

    • 4danieljmcewen

    Worst CIA spook ever

    Johnnie is terrible at his job. Johnnie falls in love. A mission is treated like a road trip. I'd rate it lower but I loved Sander. He was a bright spot in the movie. He came across as the most genuine character

    It's hard to explain the relentless intensity of having young children if you haven't done it. It's wonderful, beautiful, magical and all of that—it truly is—but it's a lot. Like, a lot. It's a bit like running an ultramarathon through the most beautiful landscape you can imagine. There's no question that it's astonishing, but it's really, really hard. And sometimes there are storms or huge hills or obstacles or twisted ankles or some other thing that makes it even more challenging for a while.

    Unfortunately, a lot of moms undergo like they're running that marathon alone. Some actually are. Some have partners who don't pull their weight. But even with an equal partner, the early years tend to be mom-heavy, and it takes a toll. In fact, that toll is so great that it's not unusual for moms to fantasize about creature hospitalized—not with anything solemn, just something that requires a short stay—simply to get a genuine break.

    An exhausted mom looks at her laptop while kids play in the backgroundImage via Canva

    In a thread on X (formerly Twitter), a mom named Emily shared this truth: "[I don't know] if the lack of community protect