The Sleepover

Brianna

Jaimee has been asking to have a "staying-all-the-night" party for a couple of years now, but we weren't quite ready to venture down that road - but these school holidays, I finally invited her 6 year old cousin (and one of the girls favourite people) Brianna to stay all the night.  This was a first for Brianna too, but both us mums agreed that staying at a cousins house is probably a good first step down the road of sleepovers!  All the girls were very excited about this arrangement.  Jaimee and Kate prayed each night during the days leading up to the sleepover that Brianna would feel comfortable and safe at their house, it made my heart smile, it was so precious!

Finally the big day came, and we went and picked Brianna up after lunch.  Brianna was most excited about painting her nails, and from the moment she arrived was asking when this big event would be happening, as she had brought along her best nail polishes!   I managed to do a baking project with them before caving and painting all their nails (hands and feet) a lovely bright pink - the perfect shade in the eyes of these 4,5 and 6 year olds! This was a big treat for my girls, especially Jaimee who is not allowed to wear nail polish during the term due to school rules.
Well, we had done the baking and nails - and there was still hours to go until bedtime.  The girls were so excited about the sleepover, they were asking when it was going to be dark from about 2pm.

Fairy Dancing Lessons

We all had a go (yep, me too) at dancing along to "The Fairies" DVD that we had borrowed form Granma, before the girls started to wilt a little.  They didn't admit to this, but I noticed that they took turns sitting out each dance with a casual "I don't feel like doing this one".  A quick snack gave them a second wind, and they were off to practice their handstands and bar work outside, before working together on a beautiful picture of the three of them, followed by board games 'Candyland'and  'Pop-up Pirate'.  My thoughts: This was great!  I was able to whisk up a cake and a brownie while they played happily.  

Luke got lots of attention from his cousin too, who was loving having a little baby around and kept commenting on every cute move he made with glee.  

Finally it was dinner time: hot dogs and homemade chips with a side of vegies in cheese sauce.  I figured that was pretty kid friendly..and sure enough, they ate it all up.  They were so excited to finally get into their PJs after tea, and the giggles began.  A few tears because Brianna brushed her own teeth (we do our girls teeth at night), but all was well when Uncle Marty sat them down for a few rounds of 'Skip-bo' after tea.  We had the comment "we don't do this at our house" a few times when we did our usual routine of reading stories and saying the bedtime prayers, but no tears...so far so good, and we had them tucked up tight by 7.30pm.   

Hmm...now let the fun begin.  I wonder how long it will take them to settle down?   I wonder if we will have a midnight trip back home?  Although I was armed with a few tips from mum and granma (leave a light on and try CD stories if she can't settle down), but Brianna is still only 6 and a first trip away from home is a big deal.   

Well, turns out that Kate was our little ratbag! At 4 years old, she was showing off, giggling loudly and climbing out of her bed and onto the big kids beds.  By 8pm I had moved her (lots of tears) into our bed, where she promptly fell asleep.  I popped on the MP3 player with some fairy tales for the girls, who looked like they were both wanting to go to sleep by now..and within 15 minutes they were both out like a light.

I was most impressed by Brianna, who only woke once in the night and quietly came into our room to inform me the cat was on her bed.  I was woken at 7am by the sound of three very loud and giggly girls wanting coco-pops for breakfast.  Why not? Its a sleepover after all.   Brianna and Jaimee took great delight in wearing matching dresses (I had gotten them each one for their birthday's last year).  When three little girls ran in to greet Luke, he looked very confused, giving Brianna a slight frown as he tried to work out this third girl in his house!

There were a few dramas by about 10am as the novelty started to wear off, I was running out of planned activities and the girls had just about had enough of each other.  Kate felt left out as the big girls didn't want to do what she wanted them to do and burst into tears loudly.  Of course, both Brianna and Jaimee are wonderful negotiators (or manipulators?)as both of them have younger siblings and have also survived the school yard for a while now.  Kate is just that wee bit younger and only knows one tactic - tears.  In the end, I took her away with a quiet word about how that doesn't work, it just makes the girls want to play without her!  I settled her inside with a craft activity she got for her birthday, and all was peaceful...until the big girls decided Kate's activity looked way more fun then the game they were playing!  They pulled out the old "sweet-talk-Kate-and-let-her-feel-like-she-is-in-total control" trick and managed to get her to share the mosaic she was working on.   Kate lapped up the attention and power as she was able to tell the girls what to do next - I wonder if she will ever clue on to this 'big sister' trick?!  

Finally, it was time for our picnic in the park where we would hand Brianna back to Granma.  When we told Brianna what was happening, she paused and said..."But after the park, can I come back here?!!"  Aww...guess she has had a good time, she also told me she wanted to stay another night (or 10,000 were her actual words)!

When the girls got home, they began a big pretend game of 'sleepovers' because "we just loved having a sleepover with Brianna and we miss her".

Brianna, Kate, Jaimee and Jakob (Brianna's brother)

I have a feeling there may be more sleepovers to come - and after such a positive experience, I am fine with that!