It’s Memory Lane Monday!!
Rosie’s 13th birthday is this week (which blows my mind. Where did all the time go)? We’re struggling to find a time for a slumber party (which of course, devastates me) so it will be a low-key week. Made me think back to past birthday extravaganzas. This was our first big sleepover and as you can see from the note it was carefully planned. And, as I wrote in my blog on The Kansas City Star’s site in September 2009, it was nuts.
My house is trashed. The floors are covered with cheese popcorn and there are gift bags and toys everywhere. I’m amazed at the devastation.
There are tween girls everywhere. Three are in Rosie’s bed, sleeping at odd angles. One is curled up in her sleeping bag in the upstairs hall. I walk downstairs and find two more on couches.
“Hey,” the hallway girl yells as she ambles down the stairs. “Where is everyone? Last thing I remember, they were sleeping in the bathtub.”
Yep, that was the last thing I remembered too; because that was the point in the evening when mommy had enough. I left them in the tub and could have cared less what happened next. I needed some sleep.
Rosie had big plans for her birthday. Her party was going to be at the pool and it had to be a “big girl” sleepover. This meant more than one or two friends. And, since she’s going to be nine, she used the “one friend for every year rule.” So, we invited eight tween sensations to our home for the night of revelry.
Rosie planned for a month. Party favors were purchased to match the luau theme. She made goop to give all her guests (it was a big hit) and planned a cupcake decorating contest. She made a schedule for all the events and kept track of the RSVP’s herself.
There were some tears when a couple of her friends that she’s known the longest couldn’t come. And, I even suggested at one point that we switch the weekend to accommodate more kids. But, she stuck to her original plans and the party was on.
The day of the party, we cleaned the house (I’m not sure what for….), picked up the balloons and got everything set for the big event. As the first girl arrived, we made smoothies covered with rainbow mini marshmallows with umbrellas in them and we were ready to celebrate.
Nine shrieking girls took over our neighborhood pool (much to the chagrin of the fourteen year-old boy that was having his party at the same time). They swam, ate pizza and had a great time.
Then it was time for games. We had a cupcake decorating contest (the winner got a stuffed pink pig) and planned to limbo. We bobbed for apples (and a couple of peaches, since that wasn’t on our original schedule). We rocked out to the Hannah Montana soundtrack and had an awesome round of Freeze Dance. It was the perfect party.
At ten we plugged in a movie and had everyone change into jammies. Everything was going according to plan. They’d watch the movie and then be so tired they’d pass out. Right?
Wrong!
After the movie, the frenzy began. No one could sleep. They ran around the house like crazy fools trying to find the perfect place. They argued. And, it went on for a couple of hours.
Finally, two gave in and went downstairs to the couches (they were the smart ones). One passed out in the hallway. And, three of them were in the bathtub, when I finally gave up on getting them to sleep and I went to bed myself.
Eventually they made it to Rosie’s room. That’s where I found them all curled up in her bed. Sometime in the middle of the night, they caved and fell asleep.
I hope they had tween dreams of dancing and smoothies. Of cupcakes and freeze dance. And, a little Hannah Montana too. It was the perfect party.
Courtney says
I don’t know what I am going to do when my little girl gets old enough to ask for her first sleepover. Oh goodness! It just sounds like the craziest thing to put ourselves through as parents – but then we remember what it was like when we were little…those were the best fun!
Ange says
I remember loving sleepovers when I was a little girl!! So fun!!