Aren't you the parent??

Don't you make the rules?

Don't be so spineless, sit down with your kid, lay down the rules & tell the kids to pass it on.

Visitors without towels go home wet, no sunscreen get sunburns, no drinks - they go thirsty, etc.

Or look at the other side... your kids could be hanging out somewhere else....

I'd consider it a small price to pay for keeping an eye (or internet camera) on their activities!

we have a few rules....

1.. first and foremost:::
there must be a parent home before there is ANY company...

2. and as the post above says if you want it, bring it...

3. we have certain days of the week that is visitor day... and other days that are family days... NO exceptions.

this is our first summer where this is an issue as well. i am in school, and hubby works nights, so even if he is home, it does not mean that we have a house full of kids.

also, we have only girls, so NO BOYS unless its preapproved.......
i would be greatly concerned of the mixing of girls and boys especially when you are not home....
alot of things can happen while you are gone.
zz

I guess I'm a bit confused, do you live in an area with lots of teens and they are just showing up, uninvited? Or are these kids you have extended an open invitation to? Do you know them and their parents, at least a bit?

We have an open invitation every week, and we have a big group of kids (not all teens though) every week. I love it, but I have extended the invitation via the parents and included that they need to bring towels, sunscreen, and snacks.

I'd do 1 of two things if I were you:

-contact the parents if you know them, and let them know their kids are welcome but please ask them to send snacks and towels. If you don't know the parents, I would politely ask it of the kids directly.

-if that failed, I would get a membership to Sam's club and stock up on big bags of snacks, big bottles of sunscreen and cheap towels, and I would feel grateful that my kids were at home and I was getting some insight into their activities during this time! I personally would NOT provide full meals, though I would offer to order pizzas for anyone who coughed up cash to me. I stock heavily on those huge tubs of pretzels and such and put a few things out every week, I buy enough to last me a while so I'm not restocking each week and I don't put it all out at once.

As far as rules, I would let my child know they are not allowed to have friends over when I am not home, particularly boy-girl mixes (this rule is true with or without siwmming). Other than that, I'd let them know you are home and watching from indoors and let them have fun.

We do a lot of things together as a family (we do horse events, boating, etc) so it would not be OK with me to have kids over every single day/night. I would probably feel the need to formalize it and let the kids know they are welcome every Monday-Wed-Friday or whatever you would like, then you'd have a few days each week that you knew were quiet.

No sex is a good rule