Saturday
Jul192008
The Last Sleepover. Ever.
Saturday, July 19, 2008 at 11:15AM
4am - I started out with quiet confidence: been there, done that. I could handle this too. I was fully prepared, shopped, stocked, cleaned and organized for an 18-hour sleepover (4pm drop-off to 10am pick-up): Six 11-year-old girls, in celebration of Drama Queen's 11th birthday.
The first child showed up at 3pm (note: an hour early), while I was still cleaning up, but okay, no problem. We already had one friend staying over since Wednesday, so we had 3 at 3; 4 at 4; and 6 by 6pm, when the late ones arrived, followed by Dear Hubby, my sole adult reinforcement, at 6:30pm.
They swam in the pool; they played games. Much to my delight -- and reassurance for Moms everywhere that maybe our kids are not the sugar-hyped, junk food maniacs we all fear (in guilt), they DEVOURED the fruit tray and all the re-stock I had in the fridge, so that was great. And then we ordered pizza. And then we had cake & ice cream, with sprinkles. And Shirley Temples (made with Sprite Zero -- I tried). Followed by movies and popcorn, lots and lots of popcorn.
The real fun began about 11pm, after the first movie, when they settled on a game of indoor Hide & Seek, in the dark, through the whole house. That was noisy. We suggested another movie. We got everyone settled -- a sea of air mattresses, sleeping bags and blankets in our family room, which is open to the rest of the house, a very open floorplan, all on one level. Hubby and I went to bed about 11:30pm.
1:30am - Second movie done, five of the six moved into the living room, by hubby's NASCAR TV, to play Truth or Dare -- much giggling and screeching ensued. One of the six was actually asleep in the family room. I chased them back into Drama Queen's bedroom, which lasted about 20 minutes, before I went back in and suggested they put on another movie -- back to the family room.
3:30am - Hubby and I are sound asleep. One of the girls appears at my bedside and wakes me up, which is pretty damn creepy. Everybody else is (finally) asleep in the family room. This one can't sleep. She wants to go home. I negotiate weakly for several minutes, offer several alternatives, no luck -- I let the girl call her parents, and her dad picks her up at 3:45am. Fortunately, they are less than a mile away.
There's obviously a background here, a pattern that had been mentioned in passing and brushed off just as lightly. Turns out, she's only made it through two sleepovers in her life, and those were when she was so far from home she had to tough it out (she stayed up all night). I dryly suggested, with that knowledge, maybe we could figure it out by 11pm or 11:30 next time.
So here I am, at 4am. No getting back to sleep for me, but at least I only have five screeching 11-year-olds to feed in the morning. They are making pancakes. That ought to be fun.
Six hours to go...
The first child showed up at 3pm (note: an hour early), while I was still cleaning up, but okay, no problem. We already had one friend staying over since Wednesday, so we had 3 at 3; 4 at 4; and 6 by 6pm, when the late ones arrived, followed by Dear Hubby, my sole adult reinforcement, at 6:30pm.
They swam in the pool; they played games. Much to my delight -- and reassurance for Moms everywhere that maybe our kids are not the sugar-hyped, junk food maniacs we all fear (in guilt), they DEVOURED the fruit tray and all the re-stock I had in the fridge, so that was great. And then we ordered pizza. And then we had cake & ice cream, with sprinkles. And Shirley Temples (made with Sprite Zero -- I tried). Followed by movies and popcorn, lots and lots of popcorn.
The real fun began about 11pm, after the first movie, when they settled on a game of indoor Hide & Seek, in the dark, through the whole house. That was noisy. We suggested another movie. We got everyone settled -- a sea of air mattresses, sleeping bags and blankets in our family room, which is open to the rest of the house, a very open floorplan, all on one level. Hubby and I went to bed about 11:30pm.
1:30am - Second movie done, five of the six moved into the living room, by hubby's NASCAR TV, to play Truth or Dare -- much giggling and screeching ensued. One of the six was actually asleep in the family room. I chased them back into Drama Queen's bedroom, which lasted about 20 minutes, before I went back in and suggested they put on another movie -- back to the family room.
3:30am - Hubby and I are sound asleep. One of the girls appears at my bedside and wakes me up, which is pretty damn creepy. Everybody else is (finally) asleep in the family room. This one can't sleep. She wants to go home. I negotiate weakly for several minutes, offer several alternatives, no luck -- I let the girl call her parents, and her dad picks her up at 3:45am. Fortunately, they are less than a mile away.
There's obviously a background here, a pattern that had been mentioned in passing and brushed off just as lightly. Turns out, she's only made it through two sleepovers in her life, and those were when she was so far from home she had to tough it out (she stayed up all night). I dryly suggested, with that knowledge, maybe we could figure it out by 11pm or 11:30 next time.
So here I am, at 4am. No getting back to sleep for me, but at least I only have five screeching 11-year-olds to feed in the morning. They are making pancakes. That ought to be fun.
Six hours to go...
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