When our littles entered school, we eventually found ourselves faced with a challenge.  So-and-so was having a sleepover and our child was invited.

All parents have had that dilemma at one time or another.  We don’t want our littles to miss out on the fun sleepovers we experienced as kids, but the world seems much scarier once your a parent.

My husband and I talked it over privately and both had the same answer…although we weren’t going to allow them to go to the sleepover, we didn’t want to say no and just leave it at that.  Our answer was always invite them here.

And that’s how we became THAT house.

We knew the benefits of a sleepover done right were enormous.  And how better to ensure it was done right than to have it in our own home.

Throughout the years, we’ve had countless sleepovers here.  Late nights, silliness, laughter and enormous amounts of food consumed (especially by teenage boys).

But, sleepovers always came with rules and my littles knew that.  We never cared who they invited as long as they followed our rules.

What we didn’t realize was the opportunity we would have to pour into littles that weren’t ours.  Or how many littles craved, and loved, having rules and boundaries.  And how many talks I’d overhear during the evening where I could interject my Mama advice.  And how those things, in turn, gave those littles respect for us.

We knew early on we weren’t going to disappear during sleepovers.  I refused to be one of those parents who were banished to their room during a sleepover so the children had their run of the house.  If they were watching a movie, we were watching a movie.  If they were eating pizza, we were eating pizza.

In no means does this mean we were helicopter parents.  In fact, we were the opposite.  If you need a drink, get up and go get it.  Mama has 4 more lives and candy to crush, ha!

It was all part of setting and adhering to rules.  And establishing how our house ran.  We are the parents and they are the children, therefore, they do what we say and not vice-versa.

And while we are serious about our rules, we are also serious about having fun.

I’ve been part of enormous amounts of laughter, car dance parties {which I am a big supporter of}, living room dance parties, charades, tea parties and 4 wheeler rides.

And as our littles got older, the rules staid the same.  And guess what, the friends kept coming!

We had successfully became THAT house, the house teenagers LIKE to hangout at.  What better than knowing where you teens are on a Saturday night…because they’re sitting beside you on the couch with their friends/girlfriends watching a movie and eating pizza with you.  Or having teenagers call you Mama Cutler because you’ve poured into them over the years.

This reminds me so much of Proverbs 31:28.  How amazing to have the sanctification of your littles praise.  As a Mama, you honored the Lord and your children {and many others} watched that and soaked it all in. They’ve watched you being gentle, kind, compassionate and generous. They’ve watched you having a servants heart and sacrificing your time for others. They’ve watched you pray, seek and trust while living and walking with God.

It’s true y’all, inside the walls of our own home is where us Mamas will do the most important work of our lives!