The Sleepover

It's that time of the week again.Actually there is no specific time of the week.It really doesn't matter the day. It's an inevitable question that I hear nearly every week no matter what the day. "Can I have Becky spend the night Friday?". The name could be left blank and any name could be inserted in it's place. Name or names that is. Although I tend to silently cringe when more than one name is used.
I should be used to this time honored activity in my childrens lives. It started about 29 years ago with my son. I had friends with kids the same age so we would always trade children for a night here and there. Of coarse I was thirty years younger.I'm what you would call an older mom now.
The boys,bless their hearts were pretty quiet as a whole. They would get into the roll playing thing. Back then it was "He Man","Skeletor" and of coarse the WWF. The latter would sometimes get a little violent but I don't remember any actual blood shed. After a time my son stopped having sleepovers,earlier than the girls did.
Ah the girls. Noisey, screaming, laughing, argueing, crying ,Vomiting, and the most destrutive gender. Any misconceptions you may have about girls being quiet, shy, well mannered and well behaved must be banished from your brain. of coarse their age at the time of the sleepover does play an important roll in this behavior. From about the age of four through thirteen you just don't know what to expect. Especially if its a girl you've never had over before. I am a firm believer in personnality screening,a talent I have picked up after the vomit incident. Its really quite simple. Listen to your kids talk. Somewhere in the excited chatter are stories about the girls or boys in question. If you hear "It was so funny when Beckys parents had to come get her from school for pushing the P.E. teacher down the stairs!" you might want to rethink the invitation.
I have found that once they hit fourteen the drama isn't so bad anymore. They are still noisey,but not as much. They are starting to show a little more respect to us as parents and our property. And amazingly they don't seem to require as much food! As a matter of fact I have almost come to enjoy the sleepovers for the simple fact that my daughter is happy and entertained. I do try to stay in the shadows however so as not to embaress her. Yes I have become embaressing. How nice!
I know that someday I will miss these weekend sleepovers. Although I can't at this time imagine when. So I will once again open my home for the semi-weekly sleepover.Better go buy a pizza.