The other night was the first time JJ had a friend sleepover. It was a friend whose parents happen to be friends of mine and they also go to the same childcare so I see said friends daughter (S) fairly often.
Nonetheless I was a bit nervous of being able to entertain, cope, cope and cope. S was dropped off about 6pm and with the remaining bit of daylight S and JJ had a jump on the trampoline. As S is not used to the trampoline and JJ is, there was a bit of friction to start off with but they ended up sharing the trampoline really well together while I hustled off into the kitchen to make pizzas.
I won’t go into a blow-by-blow description of every activity and arguement they had but overall the overnight stay was a roaring success and I am more willing to venture into the overnight stay for JJ’s friends again.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s not the easiest thing to do. I’m in a routine with JJ and I know what he will and won’t do (well mostly) so with an extra child there is that extra dynamic of now knowing what that child will get up to so I have to be more attentive than I might otherwise be.
What didn’t work
- Having JJ’s bottle of water in his bedroom that they both drank a lot out of and consequently both needed to go to the toilet in the middle of the night – one made it, one didn’t.
- Sleeping in the same room. I think I was asleep before they were. And of course they woke each other up in the morning. This probably won’t change with subsequent sleepovers though. I will just have to try and find a way of managing it better.
What did work
- The trampoline – a big hit.
- The bubble blowing kit that S brought with her.
- Food – that always works. My homemade pizzas went down pretty well.
I was really tired the night after and went to bed about 8.30pm so I wouldn’t recommend a sleepover like this before a big night.
