Charting in Unsafe Waters

Last week on Friday night, I did something that no mother should ever do.... something that NO ONE should ever do! I chaperoned a sleepover for my daughter's 7th birthday. Alone. In an apartment. On the third floor. With... 10 kids. And I survived.

Why I ever agreed to a sleepover is beyond me. Perhaps it came with the alluring promise of spending very little money - compared to other types of birthday parties. Spending less money meant a lot more work than it's worth. Having a sleepover also meant I would not have to deal with making polite awkward conversation with parents I don't even know for two hours. After 12+ hours with 10 kids, I'd trade that for 2 hours with their parents anytime.

It started and ended like a typical sleepover for 7-9 year olds. One by one, the girls arrived. Each and every one of them was extremely hyped up. I wouldn't be surprised if their parents give them bucketfuls of sugar just before dropping them off. I let the girls play for a while while waiting for pizza to arrive. Once pizza arrived, I passed out a slice to everyone and poured them all a drink. I popped in a movie and settled them all down in front of the TV. Hopefully - that will keep them quiet for 2 hours. Wrong. The movie, pizza and drink only kept them calm for 20 minutes. Maybe less. The girls decided they wanted to run around and make the biggest noise possible. After 3+ hours of yelling at select girls, telling them that I have people living below me and would they PLEASE be quiet, I gave up and decided to send them all off to bed.

About half listened. The other half complained about this one girl who proved to be the biggest troublemaker of all. Within the first 10 minutes this girl was here, I knew she was trouble. She proved to be trouble through the night and all morning the next day as well. Thank God her mother was the first one to show up in the morning. I would probably be willing to bet my life savings (which isn't much) that this girl is an only child. She had the spoiled brat personality - and she knew it. She flaunted it. That annoyed me.

I can't come away from this experience with only negative things to say. I did have the pleasure to hang out with the cutest 8 year old you could ever possibly meet. She was an angel throughout the weekend. She's certainly welcome back over anytime.

Sleepovers are wonderful - just make sure it's at somebody else's house with somebody else's parents watching them. I know I won't be doing it again anytime soon.