This is a sleepover, NOT a slumber party.

What is it with children especially little girls and the fascination with sleeping over other peoples houses? Why can't they just be content sleeping in their room…..alone…..with no extra little humans that their mothers have to now have to deal with…. be responsible for? 

Jordyn and her bestie have been plotting…..planning a sleepover for a while now. It was a big deal since her bestie had never slept away from home and Jordyn had never had a sleepover with a friend that wasn't a family member. I wanted to make sure that the experience was memorable and fun for both parties. Sleepovers are after all, considered a rite of passage for children. 

The aftermath of a silly string fight.

My biggest concern was the fact that Jordyns bestie, is allergic to dogs. Everytime she comes over for a playdate, the dogs go outside, but they are not outside dogs. They are giant spoiled children… puppies who have never spent more than a few hours outside. (obviously something is wrong with me…..my main concern was my dogs?….way to go mother of the year.) I worried how they would handle it. The sad part is, the dogs were fine….i however, couldn't sleep, after all my children were outside….sleeping in the wild like some sort of……animals.

My second concern was her bestie having anxiety about being away from home. Jordyn doesn't have these anxieties….she is quick to ditch home to sleepover her grandmas house almost every weekend and during the summer will be gone for days at a time without even a phone call to say hey love you mom, i'm still alive……how rude, but i wasn't sure how Jasmine would handle being away from home, thankfully, she didn't have any worries or cares about it! I think its due to the fact that we literally see her every week. Her mother and I are close friends and the girls had already spent plenty of time at each others house. 

If you're hosting your childs first sleepover I suggest inviting only one guest. After all, this is a sleepover……not a slumber party, and mommy is out of ibuprofen. 

Having only one child over not only decreased my risk of a stress related heart attack…..but it made it more comfortable and enjoyable for both children who had never been to or hosted a sleepover before. 

The sleepover was confined to Jordyns room. Her room is pretty big, so i set up a treat/activity table in front of her closet doors and the girls still had plenty of room to play. I wanted them to leave me alone be able to have everything within reach. 

The girls had PLENTY of snacks. Including gummy bears, donut pop ems, pixie sticks, puff corn, chips, rock candy suckers, six lets, and birthday cake oreos ( seriously, so good they're evil) 

Sorry moms, this was not a health conscious party…..really, who wants raisins and rice cakes as a sleepover snack? i'm all for eating well, but i'm more of an advocate of letting kids be kids. And sometimes, that means letting them binge on snacks that are filled with high fructose corn syrup….sometimes……..lets not make this a daily thing you dare devils. 

Lets not talk about how the fabric covering the boxes is ghetto, this was a rush job.

In addition to snacks i wanted to make sure they had plenty of activities to keep them busy and to minimize the chance of there being a fight. They're 6 and 8…..the chances that a fight was going to break out was 97%…….I would have lost my money on that bet though, because there was zero fighting!……just a lot of silly string………….everywhere. 

Activities included DIY tutu flip flops. Sand art. Decorating their own hats, cups and purses and a canvas art project. I also bought dollar store flashlights and when it got dark the girls played ghost busters. It was seriously the cutest.

Everything i bought came from either the Dollar Tree or Michaels and activities were spread out through the night.

The bat drawing was not part of the decor, Jordyns closet doors are chalkboard and she has a thing for bats.

I made the girls both customized pillow cases with their names on them that they were allowed to decorate and keep forever to remember their first sleepover. The pillow cases are just cheap ones from walmart and the letters are just iron on letters that i got from Michaels. They were 5.99 but i had a coupon :)

The sleepover was a success. The girls had a blast . They are already planning their next party! :)

A few tips for hosting your childs first sleepover.

Invite one child: start with a sleepover and work your way into a slumber party……hosting a slumber party is big league, i have no advice as i will be sticking to one child sleepovers for now, you're on your own with that one my friends. 

Be aware of any allergies: Seriously, you don't want to have to tell another parent that you fed their child peanuts and they swelled up like a balloon. Don't do that.

Buy bad good snacks: You don't want to embarrass your child by bringing out the whole wheat cracker platter. Let them live a little. Order pizza for dinner.

Plan activities: Children are bound to fight and disagree. Having activities planned helps minimize the fight over who gets to choose what they play next. Also, buy the SAME of everything. ( again, were talking sleepovers for 2) Nothing starts a fight quicker than someone getting the pink cup and someone getting the blue cup. Have a decent amount of time between each activity, unscheduled play time is also important. Have the activities on hand and available but encourage, don't force them to do them.

Make sure everyone gets along: Be on the lookout for tension that may arise. If you see or hear your 2 party guest starting to argue a bit, time to pull out a scheduled activity and change the topic. Children usually forget what they were arguing about rather quickly. ( oh, to be young again.)

Ban the sweets one hour before bedtime: This is important if you want to sleep at night. Have snacks available early in the evening to allow them to have time to burn off all the sugar.

Encourage bedtime: While i was looking up info on hosting my first sleepover i saw a lot of "schedule sleep time" i giggled every time i read it. REALLY? no no…..i say ENCOURAGE sleep time. Let them know when its time for lights out,  give them their flash lights and let them stay up and chit chat. 

Be prepared for any emergency: Make sure you have parent contact information on hand in case of any emergency situation. Also, let the child that is staying the night that if at any time they feel uncomfortable or want to call their parent that you will do so.

There are benefits to sleepovers.

Stronger friendship bonds are built during sleepovers. They offer the opportunity to enhance your childs social skills and and the child gains independence. Allowing your child to experience a new situation will encourage flexibility and by staying the whole night they will gain more confidence in themselves which will help build self-esteem and a can do attitude, that can do attitude will seep into other areas of their lives. 

Xo, Jeanice