That quiet afternoon of mine...

[JoM]

...is officially over. Very over.
Joe's just turned up with two friends, one of whom is the boy who never knows when to leave, Sam.

Sam comes here, he stays for hours (whole days at the weekends), we feed him and we end up taking him home.
Joe's been to his house twice. They don't feed him, we have to pick him up.

John and I are soft touches, I think....?

[meriad]

Is Joe happy with Sam hanging about like that? If not - and if Joe is happy for this to happen - then come a certain time you tell them it's time to pack up and for everyone to go home and ask Sam if he's OK to get home OK, if he's being fetched or if he needs a lift home. And if it's the latter then so be it; at least you get your space back and you know Sam got home safe (which is most important).

But I suspect Sam is happier at yours than at home which is why he hangs about. His parents sound delightful... there is no way my mother would have let us have any friends over for any longer period of time without offering some form of snack / refreshment / food etc...

[Ally]

Conor had a friend just like this a few years ago Jo.

It turned out his parents were always arguing (they eventually divorced) and he felt safe in our house.
After I found this out I never minded his visits at all..especially when he told Conor he had a lovely mum.

BTW..I'm not suggesting this is the case at all for Joe's friend.

He must just really like being in your home.

[JoM]

Joe's more than happy to have him here
Before the holidays we were taking him home, after x amount of hours we were saying right it's time to go.

To be honest I'm not even sure his parents know where he is. They might know he's with Joe but they have no idea where we live or have a phone number for us, though I'm sure he has his own phone. I'd feel awful if I didn't feed any of his friends although there was an occasion just before Christmas where I was running down the freezer and had enough chicken for dinner for four of us. It was a Saturday and Sam had turned up unexpectedly and had had his lunch here, he'd had dinner here the evening before too, and I just thought sod it, I'm not feeding him again as the meal wasn't going to stretch to five

I've given Evan over the road his lunch today too as he was in earlier playing with Joe, that's always reciprocated if Joe's over there though

[JoM]

Ally, what a lovely thing for Connor's friend to say!

BTW did I mention Tom's talked me into letting him have friends around for a take out for his 16th birthday next month? He said there'll be no more than 12 of them. I've told him we'll go out for a couple of hours and I'll ask various neighbours to listen out for any trouble, they all have my number I think they'll be fine though.
Usually they go out for an Indian on birthdays but they're bored of it now and there aren't any Chinese restaurants within their budget around here.

[Kaz]

But I suspect Sam is happier at yours than at home which is why he hangs about. His parents sound delightful... there is no way my mother would have let us have any friends over for any longer period of time without offering some form of snack / refreshment / food etc...

Just what I was going to say xxxx

[miasmum]

I was the Sam, if I could escape I did and if they fed me, so much the better.

[Kaz]

Oh ((((Shell)))) xx

[Applecheeks]

I was the Sam, if I could escape I did and if they fed me, so much the better.

Ohh!! Hugs. xxxxxxx
We had a boy who was my sons friend, I just used to set place for him at the table, not invite, him just say sit down, then it wasn't a big deal, he was fed, full up and happy. He has grown up to be the nicest young man you can imagine, despite all the odds (Not that my cooking had anything to do with it!! )

[Kaz]

That's lovely