Yes, I can do that for you! All About Sleepovers

I don't claim to be an expert about sleepovers... not by a long shot! But I guess I have learned a few things that make hosting them easier, and I can certainly share those here.

I think Alex was six when he went on his first overnight sleepover, to our next-door neighbors' house. That was one way to make it infinitely easier -- having it next door! On the side of letting them go to a friend's, here are my rules:

1. I must receive an invitation (text message) from the parent. None of this, "Jimmy invited me to spend the night Friday. His mom said." And no, I'm not going to text his mom. That's inviting yourself over, and is impolite. Tell Jimmy his mom needs to get in touch with me.

2. You can pack your own small bag. (I let them take whatever they want, and just ask at the end to make sure they've got pajamas, toothbrush/toothpaste, a change of clothes and clean underwear.)

3. There should be a confirmed pick-up time, and if you've spent the night at a friend's, I will pick you up. (Unless the parent offers, I don't expect them to host my kid and also drive my kid home. Sometimes they offer and that's great! But if not, my kid = my responsibility.)

When I'm hosting, here's what I usually do:

1. I think it's best to do sleepovers on a Friday, because they'll be tired from school. Brilliant, right? Wasn't my idea, but I have used it with pretty consistent success. For example, Kate and her friend went to bed at 10:00 pm with no prompting from me last Friday. Actually said, "We're tired, we're going to sleep." Mwuah-ha-ha, success. I think when she was younger I usually attempted to get them to bed (ish) by 9:30, knowing they would stay up talking -- because come on, it's a sleepover, staying up late is part of the fun! However, if they're up past MY bedtime, or generally not being quiet, I have never been afraid to tell them to settle down and go to sleep.

2. Dinner: Order pizza. It's fun and it's easier. Now sometimes, if it's my kid's birthday for instance, I'll make his/her favorite meal, and I've never had a guest turn their nose up at spaghetti or chili, although I'm always nervous that will happen. I always ask the guest if they'll eat whatever I'm planning to serve. My advice is to keep it simple, though; save your spicy Thai shrimp dinner that your kids will eat for another night. (On the flip side, my kids have tried a few things away at others' homes that they never would have tried at our table: different fruits, Vietnamese food at the Vietnamese kid's house, etc., so it's up to you.)

3. YES to snacks. Not too many and not all night long, but popcorn is always a treat if they watch a movie (we don't make it often), or maybe buy a type of dessert you don't normally buy, or something fun like that.

4. Let them sleep in the guest room. Or, on the floor in the living room if you don't have a guest room. This has always been a big hit at our house because there's a TV in the guest room, but not in the kids' rooms. I don't mind; keeps them out of my hair!

5. Depending on the kid visiting, the great thing about having a friend over is that they usually occupy themselves so that DH and I can have some time to ourselves. Or.... that is the theory. More often than I would like, I get a surprising, "We're bored."  ....?!? I never know what to do with that. It is not my job to entertain them, though. Usually I throw out "board games?" "Wii Sports?" "Scavenger Hunt? (meaning, they create it for each other and then do the hunting -- just kidding, I've never been smart enough to suggest this. But I wish I had!)" "Watch a movie?" and see if that solves it. Once or twice with girls, I have stupidly suggested we paint nails. DO NOT DO this. It takes forever, and they don't sit still long enough for it to dry, but if you don't help, you will surely have nail polish all over the bathroom floor. The last several years, "making slime" has become THE sleepover activity. Ugh. But at least they do it without me, being "experts." I do try to limit the time they spend on the iPad as much as I can.

6. Breakfast -- I nearly always make cinnamon rolls from a can, or an easy muffin mix. Pancakes on a rare occasion but truly, I'm in it for EASY. I try to have fruit available as well, so they'll tell their parents they had something healthy besides popcorn and pizza, lol! Sometimes I'll take kids to get doughnuts, but not very often.

7. Don't make the experience last too long. Morning, or just after lunch, is a good time to say the sleepover ends. What I've found is that, even very bestest of friends get sick of each other after 24 hours -- that is really too long.

That's all I can think of at the moment. Hope it helps, S! :)