I SURVIVED: Slumber Party '08

So last Friday's snowstorm caused me to postpone Mary's birthday slumber party to Saturday. Bonus! One of the girls who couldn't make it on Friday could actually come on Saturday (crap!)! Bonus! More time to prepare and cut out tissue paper flowers!

(A side note here: when postponing the party, one girl [Mary's BFF, in the sense that she plays with this girl more than any other] originally couldn't come on Saturday as her grandparents were coming to town, and they were going to go skiing. No problem! We'll set them up for a playdate some other time--no big deal. Well, the mother was pretty frantic about R missing this party.... I ended up with another call from her on Friday: "My husband had an idea! Why doesn't Mary come over HERE tonight and stay the night here?!" Um...I canceled the party because I was being considerate and did NOT want anyone driving out on these roads!? And now you're offering for me to drive MY kid to YOUR house????? Um...No, no, thank you. We're going to relax and put in a movie instead. WTH? Hours afterward I was STILL laughing about that. People just don't THINK! Anyway, the grandparents couldn't make it to go skiing [due to the weather--imagine that!], so R got to come.)

So, on Saturday the party started just before 6:00. One of the girls apparently does not do well sleeping over, so we had her come a little early for a playdate instead. She and Mary hung out for a bit and then played with the Wii.

At 6:50, Mary's BFF shows up ("She was so excited to come that we came a little early--but this is the earliest I would let her!") Then the pile of other parents/girls descends upon us. Six girls in all. John took off with Keith to have some manly time together, and I started a craft with the girls in the dining room.

I turned on the X-mas music, and we made a garland of tissue paper flowers (they turned out pretty cute). And then we decorated our own cupcakes and ate them (and somehow forgot to sing Happy Birthday?). And then we opened presents (And EVERYONE brought a gift despite my plea NOT to--people honestly can't HELP themselves!). And guess what? The Dance Dance Revolution I had bought for Mary from Amazon--which somehow got delayed in delivery, so I wasn't expecting it until 12/24--actually DID get here in time for her party (must've come on Friday--John found it under about six inches of snow when he shoveled the sidewalk Saturday). So after the shrieks and oohs and ahhs, we set it up, and the girls all got to dance. Of course, the one girl--whom I will henceforth call the "Evil K"--kept taking off in the other room to do a Mad Libs game with another girl--and then they would come back to read it to the other girls. I tried not to mind, as they were all having fun (and "Evil K's" stories were mostly being ignored by the girls wanting to enjoy the party), but it was annoying to see the girls break off into groups like that. I prevented it as best as I could.

Around this time, the girl who "couldn't handle sleepovers" decides she really wants to stay the night and calls her Mom. Mom brings over clothes (forgets her jammies). I kept wondering how this was all going to turn out....

All the girls get their pajamas on and someone decides they should have a pajama fashion show. Alright--I'm game. The girls raid through their goodie baskets. Next thing I know, I've got a parade of girls in jammies walking down my living room "runway" with stickers and body glitter all over their faces. Ha!

Around 10:00 or so, I pop a ton of popcorn and settle the girls in the den to watch a movie. I stop the movie at about the half-way point to try to get them to settle down in their sleeping bags. I was on the couch--laughing at their feeble attempts to get me to go to another room. Mary finally says to the one girl, "Mom's not stupid, ya know!" Ha!

Mary and her BFF calm down right away. But the OTHER four girls--well, they decided to make this a NOT-slumber party. Now, I don't mind a roomful of goofy girls. I AM a GS leader, and despite my age, I DO remember what sleep-overs are like. So, I gave them plenty of time to goof-off and talk and laugh (begging them to please try and keep it down a bit as Keith and Izzy were in bed by this point). I did get a bit angry when one decided she needed to go to the bathroom, and three others piled in with her--and then two of them spilled over to running around in the basement. Um...NO!

We all lay down again, and "Evil K" just will NOT stop talking--LOUDLY. Mary actually got on to her, "PLEASE stop! I want to SLEEP" Another girl actually got TICKED OFF at yelled at her a couple of times (while alternately giggling at the girl's antics). I finally laid down the law and gave "Evil K" and her co-hort M (the one who doesn't do well at sleepovers?) 20 minutes to calm down (SEE how reasonable I am?) before I start calling parents. I watched "Evil K" still talking and giggling and taking articles of clothing and "throwing" them on the other girls...but at least she was being pretty quiet.....

Everything started to get quiet, and I actually dozed off. Next thing I know, it's about 1:30 in the morning, and John is coming downstairs and getting onto "Evil K." "Where is the Rubik's cube? The one I just saw you pick up when you were wandering upstairs? Where is it? OK. Now you all need to settle down and stop wandering the house, or I WILL call parents." Apparently she had taken a few trips to wander upstairs while I was dozing and was messing with stuff on the party table. John, being the night owl he is, was sitting in the living room and of course, saw the whole thing. I told him later I was sure she wasn't stealing it--she was just playing with it because she was bored and didn't want to go to sleep.

Finally "Evil K" gave it up and ALL the girls went to sleep.

I wake up in a still-dark den and chattering girls. "What time is it?" I stumbled upstairs--it was 6:40. Yeah--you all can still sleep a bit longer. ...I gave up the attempt around 7:00.

We ate breakfast, got dressed, packed up the bags (er, mostly--got quite a bit of a "lost and found" here now), watched the rest of our movie, and then got out the Wii and DDR again. Then all the parents pretty much showed up at once, and my house was quiet again.

The whole time I was corralling this party, I could only think, "Boy, I wish I had one of my co-leaders here!" And, "Wow. These girls who generally seem to be pretty quiet are quite LOUD when they all get together."

Despite the antics of "Evil K," we all did have fun. Mary said it was the BEST. SLEEPOVER. EVER. Hope you enjoyed it, kid. I'm NOT having that many of your friends over again anytime soon.

*Note to self: Please remember the NOISE level of six girls when planning a party next year! And DON'T invite "Evil K!"