He made it through a sleepover!

[Camperroo]

Well my little guy is now 11 but has only tried a sleepover with friends once and he came home by 1:00 a.m.  He's not use to being anywhere but with us be it at home or camping.  Last night he was invited over to another friend's house and the mom had a plan all prepared, bless her heart.  My son felt embarrassed that he didn't make it through the first sleepover, bugged him most of the summer.  His pals are his best friends though so they were telling him to stop thinking about it, they'd come home from sleepovers before to, they were just use to them now and they only go to each other's homes, yet won't go away with another family for a weekend yet.  Not ready for that kind of separation!!  Well DS called me at 11pm to say good night and sounded great and happy and then we got through the night without another phone call and he spent the day swimming with his friends at their house.  I woke up this morning and couldn't believe our phone remained silent for the night.  However I found out when I picked him up, that my girlfriend said that he came to her at about 2:30 am saying his stomach hurt and he wanted to call home.  She got up with him and said it was fine if he wanted to call home but maybe he'd like to just go downstairs and turn on a movie for a bit and see if he gets sleepy, he got his pillow and said ok.  He still mentioned that his tummy hurt a bit so she cheerfully suggested to him..."I bet that tummy of yours is just a bit hungry and once you eat you'll feel better"  apparently he agreed and she got him a bowl of cereal which he did eat and then said his tummy felt better, must have been "a hungry stomache" and she agreed with him.  She then told him well why don't you curl up on the sofa and watch the movie till you feel sleepy enough to go back upstairs and she herself stretched out on a recliner knowing full well he'd most likely fall asleep on the couch, which he finally did, but she didn't want him to be alone, so she slept all night on the recliner.  When everyone woke up the next morning, he told his friends he got hungry during the night and his friend's mom got him something to eat and then he fell asleep on the couch!  They all laughed about it and spent the rest of the day having fun.

I thanked my friend over and over again for her patience.  She said she realized how important it was for him to begin school knowing he made it through a sleepover and wanted him to prove it to himself he could do it.  She was of course ready to call us at any time, but felt he just needed the reassurance all was well and he was able to relax.

He was so happy when I picked him up this afternoon, however, as I type this, he is lying down next to me on the couch and passed out sound asleep!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!   I imagine my friend probably is too!!!

[NightOwl]

Rose, what a wise and wonderful friend you have!   Later on, this episode will become part of your family folk lore

We all still laugh about the time Alice had her friend Karen stay over for the first time. They were 8.  (They are 40 now and still best friends)  Along about  1 AM, Karen woke me to take her home, so I did.  The next time she came to spend the night a few months later, she brought her own pillow which her mom had sprayed with some of her signature perfume.  The pillow made Karen feel like her Mom was close by and we never had to take her home again.

Our DGD did this, too   She was fine staying at her friends' houses a few blocks from home, but her patient, loving dad had to drive  20 miles at midnight out to Hannah's first Girl Scout campout  to bring his homesick daughter back.

I think a lot of kids do this and if they are lucky, their families and friends understand that this is normal and dont make them feel bad or embarrassed about it but turn it into an amusing  "remember when" kind of thing.

[Acts 2:38 girl]

I remember when our son had his 1st sleepover at his Grandmas house.  About 11:30pm we got a call from her saying he wanted to come home.  I put the phone to my chest and told Lee about DS's homesickness.  He bolted right up off that couch and said, "I'll go get him!"  I said maybe we should convince him to stay or something, but it was our 1st night away from him too, and the house was rather quiet!  

  Now he's a pro, but I still call him and say good night and prayers!