First Sleep Over

Helen and her friend ACDD have been angling for a sleepover for a long time. At some point in the summer, ACDD's mom and I agreed that yes, they could have a sleep over. ACDD has an older sister that is Connor's age, and she and Connor weren't about to let the littles get something that they weren't getting - so we decided on a double sleepover.

Ed's and my original plan was to take the bigs and stick ACDD's parents with the littles. But then Helen wasn't too certain about sleeping away from home, so the four children decided that the littles would be at my house and the bigs would be at the other house. DOH!

As the date neared, Connor balked. I never got a straight answer to why, but I sent an email to ACDD's mom and asked her to bring pajamas for both kids, because I wasn't sure what was going to happen. I figured we'd end up with all four children, which actually wouldn't be a problem.

But No! Helen insisted that her and ACDD wanted to have a sleep over AWAY from the bigs and if that meant she had to pack her bag, so be it. So the littles headed off to ACDD's house and the bigs stayed at my house. Did you notice how that worked out? I got the bigs! SCORE!

And truly, we had a blast. It was perhaps the only time that Ed and I have gotten to sit and play games with Connor without any interruption. Usually one of us is busy with Helen or doing some random chore. But we'd set aside the night and Connor chose Mousetrap and Yahtzee.

Helen was fine, of course, and had a great time. She definitely wants to have a sleep over again. And now that Helen has paved the way for a sleep over at the other house, Connor is happy to go there. So I guess Ed and I get the littles next time.

On Saturday night, Connor went to his first sleep-over not at our house. A friend of his had a birthday party and wow, is that mom brave. Her husband was out of town, so she had several 7-8 year old boys at her house. Connor was exhausted the next day, but had a blast. They had a bonfire, played video games, stayed up late talking and giggling, and he reportedly ate about 50 strawberries for dinner and the next morning he had waffles, strawberries, syrup, and whipped cream. He would like his "Wednesday waffles" served this way from now on.

Connor's absence meant that Ed and I had Helen alone on Saturday - and this is an equally unique moment as having Connor without Helen. We let Helen choose dinner, and even though it ended up being left-overs, we pulled out all the stops. Helen insisted we eat in the dark with only candlelight so we could really see the candles well. We also added a fancy cheese plate to the menu with Helen's new favorite cheese - Medoro. She has great taste in cheese because I regularly take her to the wine and cheese shop near our home. While there, she always picks out a cheese to taste, and then insists we buy some to bring home (which she occasionally decides she's doesn't like, but usually eats it). Often, the shopkeepers gift Helen with a little chocolate treat while she's there, which might be why she likes to go there so much!

Elaine