At first, we couldn’t believe our luck. There was no way this could be happening to us both girls invited to sleep over’s on the very same night? Happy Dance! Now, don’t get all judgey on me. Unless there is a wedding or a big fat trip (once every six years) Hubby and I get about one evening alone in the house per year; sans kids. I love my girls but this was a super special treat to have them off having a great time and us ALONE in the house! Again with the Happy Dance. Doo do doo.
Delivered dear daughters to their sleepover and the night was ours. We were free to -drink-dance-party! Um, we didn’t do those things because we are old. We put the top down on the convertible, went and bought the highest calorie ice cream we could find, and ended the evening out with a moonlit drive. Back home, a late night movie and we just enjoyed the quiet. We’re all kinds of crazy like that. Truthfully this a perfect evening for me.
The next morning we got up bright and early and went to pick up our little darlings. I have to tell you something…they were not the same little people we had dropped off the night before!
Our sweet, polite, fun loving, playful girls had been replaced by dirty, sweaty, whining, crying, snivelling, exhausted beasts. I insisted they have a nap. They told me they were not tired. I encouraged them to rest in front of the TV, they cried and emphatically told me they didn’t need to rest. Too tired to eat, every word a whine, tears, fights, and more tears. My two pre-teens had turned back into toddlers acting like they had missed their nap times. Hysterical and happy one moment, blubbering puddles of snot the next.
I reached my breaking point with these tiny little creatures who had turned our sunny pool day into a scene from Super Nanny, and ordered them to their rooms. (I needed a time out.)
Then I started wondering bitching to my husband, are sleepovers worth it? Yes, Hubby and I had a fabulous relaxed worry free date night, but at what cost? My sweet girls were two exhausted drama queens…ruined for the day…and they took the rest of this family along for the ride.
Honestly, I might be the first Mama in the Suburbs who plays a brand new card from the parenting deck and declares…No More Sleep Over’s.
I know just what you mean…. I have 3 girls and we rarely do sleepovers anymore!!
Linked over from a commet on another blog- I hear you on this subject completely. That is why we have changed to having ‘late nights’. The kids still get to hang out with their friends until 10-11ish then come home to sleep in their own beds. It has made a difference to all parties involved.
Linked over from a commet on another blog- I hear you on this subject completely. That is why we have changed to having ‘late nights’. The kids still get to hang out with their friends until 10-11ish then come home to sleep in their own beds. It has made a difference to all parties involved.
That’s the absolute truth. I remember that completely, even for myself. I never even bothered to try to deal with the crap either. I just sent them straight to bed to sleep it off!
I know exactly what you mean about the crappy grouchy attitudes. BUT – it’s still worth it!! Especially since you get so little time alone with your hubby. Maybe plan the next day to be really low-key, if possible.
Just don’t be the one to host them, especially not with a bunch of kids! Then you’ll ALL be grouchy the next day. LOL
at least you had a good night before the madness set in though right??
I have been singing this tune for a while now. The breaking point for me was a birthday sleepover with a bunch of 12-year-old boys who didn’t go to sleep until 5am only to wake up at 8am. No thanks!! Hold your ground sister.
I remember staying up all night at sleepovers! It always seemed like so much fun. Never thought of the torture my parents would go through the next day!
or… the next time, just welcome them home with a hot chocolate laced with gravol, voila! they’ll take themselves to bed for a nice nap, problem solved!
i’d be such a cool mom, LOL! ;-D
Amen to that! I haven’t banned them entirely, but I do make sure that we have nothing critical planned for the following day. The girls are brutal the next day, but the shot of whiskey I force them to drink generally encourages napping. ; )
Oh my! I guess I should be glad we aren’t in sleepover range yet! That doesn’t sound fun & my kids tend to be that way all on their own anyway!
Oh sleepovers. I remember those days. Caboodles and cookie dough. Trying to stay up all night. I was smart enough to come and take a nap though! Your girls are crazy for trying to stick it out!
Oh, you are not alone in wanting to ban sleepovers! My mom would always complain about how tired my sister and I would be when we’d get home the next day… completely miserable! And I know I will one day let my boys sleep over at their friends homes too even though we know it’s better for our sanity that they do not!
Oh, I totally get it! It is so frustrating when they come home so exhausted. Emily came home yesterday and was griping at her brother.
We do limit them! …and I am the mom who hates to host them…I am not a morning person so I absolutely hate having them here. We will be having one in August but they will be out in a tent! 🙂
I wouldn’t rule them out, just expect the post-sleepover hangover. I’d trade almost anything for a quiet night with the huz.
Also, threaten them with no sleepovers ever again if they can’t get it together the next day.