Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Birthday girl

Well, 6-yo turned 7. She had a sleepover. I'm not a big fan of sleepovers, as I believe I'm mentioned before. However, it was what she wanted more than anything anything anything. She's in a little friendship group of four girls, and the other three, their birthdays in September, December and February, all had sleepovers. So it would have been difficult for the fourth member of the group to flake out.

It went really well, thanks for asking. I had a few activities up my sleeve, but mostly just let them play. I did get them to do a scavenger hunt, which they enjoyed, and it was very sweet watching them scuttling round the garden collecting blades of grass and small stones, and then sitting studiously drawing an animal and something that begins with B. The item they found hardest to collect, interestingly, was a list of 10 different girls' names, each one written in a different colour marker. When I put that on the hunt list, I thought it would be easy for them, but I hadn't reckoned with the way the mind of a 7 year old works. "I could write Bayley, but I'm not really friends with her, so I don't think I want her name on my list."

We watched a dvd together (they watched, I snoozed), and I had them in bed by 10.15 and asleep not long after that. Beforehand, 7-yo had been very adamant that they HAD to stay up till after midnight, because you HAVE to do that at a sleepover, and they did at EVERYONE ELSE'S sleepover. So I had prepared the ground by setting my alarm clock an hour ahead. (I was sleeping with them in the basement, where there are no other clocks.) Sneaky, huh? And if you're reading this in years to come, 7-yo, then don't be too hard on me. You'll understand when you have a daughter of your own. Perhaps you already do. I have no idea at what stage in life you'll decide you want to look up that old-fashioned thing that your mum used to write, back in the olden days when they used to do that thing called, what was it? "blogging" or something. But in any case, I didn't need to use the clock, because by that time the girls had already had a lot of fun, and the competitive urge to stay up later at this sleepover than at any of the others had disappeared.

They all slept till 7.00am. At about 5.00am, one of them got up to use the bathroom, and I lay in bed willing her to go back to bed and to sleep, and not to assume it was morning (I'd turned the alarm clock back to the correct time by then). I don't know if it was the force of my willpower, or what, but she did. So we all got eight hours of sleep, which is good going for a sleepover. Next year, I'm thinking that 8 year olds are probably more challenging than 7 year olds on the bedtime front, so I am definitely crushing up a few Benadryl to bake into the birthday cake.

7-yo is very much into writing lists at the moment. My favourite is this one:

I hate...

mean people
pikle
brokle
wine


I hasten to add that she's only ever dunked a finger into a glass of wine for a taste. Honest. (And I was joking about the Benadryl too.) As for pikles and mean people, I don't like them much either. But personally I do like brokle. Have you worked out what that is? It took me a long while.

17 comments:

  1. My brothers favourite poem is one by Ogden Nash:

    The Grocer has run out of broccoli. Lockily.


    Good going on the sleepover. I am dreading the time when I have to do one here.

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  2. Ooh yes, it's nearly that time of year again 6 y-o followed by 10 y-o's birthdays a week apart. Cold sweat forming. Still gets it all over & done with in one go.......

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  3. I don't like pikle either, but I do like brokle. (Littleboy 1 actually likes it raw - but he is weird. ) Cunning of you to switch the alarm clock.....

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  4. I hate sleepovers with a passion, both at my house and other people's as my kids always come home knackered.
    And I'm glad you were joking about the Benadryl as it causes some kids to become hyper-active. Dramamine would be far more reliable!

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  6. You will have made her day, welldone. Good idea withthe clock. LOL! I do sleepovers all the time and never once thought of that. I've done tented, blow-up beds all over the dining room, spooky themed, make overs. You name it I do them and love them! :) It becomes less hard work when you've done a few. honestly!!! But you are right, as they get older they do get harder and they don't actually even consider sleeping. Ear plugs is the only way to go ;)

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  7. Lol on the girls' names thing! Strange how their minds work!
    I like brokle too, and wine.
    Well done on surviving the sleepover, and on your skills re time- i hated sleepovers, cos we never got any sleep, they competed to stay up all night.

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  8. Personally I love brokle, especially the purple sprouting kind (unsurprisingly, not available here...). As for sleepovers, my boys just had their first but were accompanied by their dad. And as expected, sleep was not a top priority. But then how could it have been after an afternoon and evening of 2 (yes, TWO!) star wars movies accompanied by pizza and popcorn. Where was I? In the UK. When the cat's away...

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  9. Happy birthday! (and to you - I always sort of feel that parents should be celebrated on children's birthdays too - just look what you've achieved to get her to this advanced age!)

    We disagree about brokle though - it's the only vegetable all three of mine will eat...

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  10. i think you were very brave to sleep with a bunch of 7 year olds in a cellar! i think i would have shut the door firmly and let them get on with it... or perhaps that would have been a bit health and safety?!

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  11. I can clearly remember the sleepovers I had with my best friend at that age. The 2 Must Achieve items were 1) midnight and 2) a midnight feast. Food was a pre-requisite.

    Alarms (old-fashioned, wind-up ones. This was barely the 80s) were always dutifully set to 11.55pm. We never once woke up!

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  12. We like broccoli, but sleepovers haven't really been an issue... yet.

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  13. Brokle is delicious and tastes even better off a square white plate. As eny fule no. I agree about mean people, and the pikle sometimes; depends what sort. And the wine. Actually that last one is a total lie.
    xxx

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  14. We love brokle in our house (especially brokle and stilton soup!)... Happy birthday to your little girl (I am so going to remember that putting the clocks forward trick!)... Emma

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  15. Seven years old you say? I've got one of them. I wish you luck! (Not really, it's a great age but definitely one where they change an awful lot!)

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  16. I like Brokle too. I'll have hers. She can have my haggis. I'm really trying to love haggis. So far, I've managed a mouthful. Thanks for your kind comments on my blog.

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