Sleep-over!



I have recovered... I think.  And for fear of being accused of whining (by my brother) I am not complaining in this post.  I am simply relaying the events as they occurred for Canon’s party.

 

Due to the upcoming Australia trip!  (Woohoo!)  We celebrated Canon’s birthday a little earlier than I would have normally.  I didn’t want to have to figure it all out when we get back.  Canon requested a sleep-over party.  Like the real thing with his friends actually staying ALL night.  Didn’t want to deny him his birthday party wish so we did it!  The party was Friday night (5:30) to Saturday morning (10:00).

 

Here’s the events as they transpired. 

1) boys arrived and ate pizza.  This was good and enjoyed by everyone.

2) bubble gum was chewed – boys tried to blow bubbles (mostly unsuccessfully) and then I had boys take gum out of mouth and stretch it as far as possible and then put it back in mouth and repeat.  yum.

3) boys were given a small container of playdough and asked to make the LONGEST snake they could make.  This was funny because mostly they didn’t get the concept of making the whole snake thinner they just kept pushing in the middle and had a snake with a fat head and fat tail.

4) balloon popping – boys were to grab a balloon and use ONLY their body to pop it.  there were about 70 balloons for this activity.  balloons were popped and then cleaned up!

5) pinata – this was VERY entertaining.  canon broke the level 1 stick in half.  we managed to get to the level 3 stick. (level 5 was a golf club putter)  one cute little boy was whacking the pinata and the stick came back and whacked him in the forehead.  there was a little crying but he recovered!

6) birthday presents were opened!

7) birthday brownie and ice cream was eaten

8) pj’s were put on and sleeping bags put out

9) the first Harry Potter movie was watched (and kettle corn was eaten!)

 

When Harry Potter ended it was about 10:30ish.  The Bread Winner had already left me half-sleeping on the couch and gone to bed.

I put the next video in (Woody Woodpecker).  I was thinking kids would start to “crash” at about this time.  But no.

Kieron had fallen asleep but the other 7 kids were still up.

By midnight the other two smaller kids were asleep.  The 5 “die hards”were still awake!  At about 12:30ish Woody Woodpecker was over and I turned the tv off.  They accused me of “trying to make them go to sleep.”  "Not me” I said!

So as the boys were laying in the “dark” I could hear the bodies moving.  That’s the only way I can describe it.  They wouldn’t stop moving.  Arms were waving in the air.  Bodies were wiggling.  I knew that if they just laid still for a few seconds they would fall asleep.  But they wouldn’t stop moving!  I finally couldn’t take it.  I was SO tired myself that I walked over to Canon and whispered that if he didn’t just lay still and TRY to go to sleep I was NEVER going to let him have another sleep-over EVER.  I left the room to go to the bathroom and feel guilty for threatening my child when he was just trying to have a good time at his first ever sleep-over.

When I returned and laid down on the couch the moving body syndrome had stopped and by 1:45 all 5 boys were FINALLY asleep.  I went to bed at about 2:00.

 

At 6:00 AM I heard the voices.  Not just one.  ALL of them.  SERIOUSLY?!?!?!?  6:00 AM?!?!?!?!!? I smacked The Bread Winner and told him it was HIS job to turn on some cartoons or something.  I was so EXHAUSTED!!!

 

At 6:30 I got up and started organizing breakfast (muffins, grapes, smoothies).  They ate breakfast, cleaned up their sleeping bags, and got dressed.  Then they played foosball and built Legos.  Then we went outside and they played football and soccer.  Thankfully parents arrived and took their children away.  The parents all looked so refreshed.  Like they had a good night’s sleep.  They were all smiling.  They were happy.

 

I went upstairs and tried to have the energy to do something productive.  It was relatively unsuccessful.  I eventually laid down on the couch with Kieron.  I think I slept for 45 minutes.  After the short nap and a shower I felt mostly like a real person again.  But after a full night’s sleep I’m actually feeling MUCH better today – I’m so old.

 

It was a long party, but the birthday boy really enjoyed it and the boys were good.  They all had fun and were so excited about staying up ALL night!