The (Not So Much) Slumber Party

This past weekend, the girls had the slumber party that was supposed to be in celebration of their ninth birthday. It was originally planned for February 4th (their birthday is January 31st), but due to the power outage and sickness, I postponed the party.

Preparations were minimal: cleaning, buying some healthy groceries, and making chocolate chip cookie bars and rice krispie treats. My plan was for pizza at dinner (thank you Mr. Delivery Man) along with raw veggies and juice. Dinner went off without a hitch, as most kids like pizza, aside from one child showing everyone how to explode the juice container. Thank goodness the tablecloth was one of washable kinds that cost $6.99!

After dinner, the girls played -- loudly. There was a lot of shrieking, running, and dancing. I like Taylor Swift, so we had one of her CDs from the library. The girls turned up the volume, and proceeded to sing and dance. Melina was in the thick of the whole thing, and at times, she was carried around by the 6 girls. The scene really was quite cute.

While Melina and Aaron got ready for bed, the girls played upstairs in our room. Because the master bedroom has more-than-ample space and an attached bathroom, we have made it the designated guest room. It is very quiet and warm, and with the door closed, most of the house noise can't get back there. More importantly, with the door closed, the noise from 6 adolescent girls was muffled such that Aaron and Melina would be able to get to sleep!

Once Aaron and Melina were tucked into bed, we let the girls have snacks and watch a movie. They decided to watch Princess Diaries II, which two of the girls had seen, but the others had not. Tim and I sat in the dining room and read; we tried to give the girls some space, but wanted to be within earshot, should something happen. Listening to the girls watch the movie was a hoot! One of the girls who had seen the movie was reciting favorite lines, while one of the girls who had not seen the movie kept asking questions. In between all of that, Zoe and Talia would whisper, "Shhh! There is a baby trying to sleep in this house!" We've got them trained well, don't we?

The movie ended at 9:30 pm, which is well beyond our girls' bedtime. The ladies decided to head upstairs to brush teeth, read, and play for a little while. Tim was supposed to be the designated slumber party guard: he'd check on them from time to time and encourage them to go to sleep. I hit the hay at 10:15 pm, in Melina's room, and listened to the muffled laughter.

The question is, how much sleep did everyone get? Well, the only two people that had a good night sleep were Aaron and Melina. After that, Tim was the most well-rested, then me, then the girls. I woke up several times that night: first at midnight, then 1 am. I poked my head in our room and mentioned that the kids should really get some sleep. I also poked my head into Aaron's room, where Tim was sleeping, and asked him to go back in again soon.

A lot of good that did. At 3am, I woke again, because the crescendo from the girls' laughing was at its climax. I opened our door, and stepped into the room.

Me: Girls, did you even try to sleep?
Them: Yes, we did.
Me: I was once a young girl. I used to have slumber parties. I understand how much fun you are having. However -- YOU NEED TO TRY TO SLEEP!!!
Them: Okay. We will try.

I fell right back asleep, and to their credit, the girls eventually did sleep a little. How much? I can't tell you. While I was getting breakfast ready (bacon, eggs, pancakes, and fruit) they bounded down the stairs, bleary-eyed and smiley. They all made it to the end of the morning, and protested when they had to leave. Clearly, the party was success.

The girls actually lasted through the day, only having a few tears at piano practice time ("I went first yesterday!"). Tim and I are glad that the party went well, but we are also glad that we won't be having another one anytime soon! Our plan for Melina's party, when she is 9, is to hire the girls to deal with Melina and her friends, send Aaron to a friend's house, and for Tim and I to pack up some snacks and drinks and head up to our room to watch a movie and have a peaceful, relaxing, quiet evening with each other.