THE GIRL'S FIRST SLUMBER PARTY (AND THE PRICE PAID TO THE BOY)

at the yogurt shop

Okay, so I may have overdone it just. a. little.

Saia was invited to her first non-birthday-party-related, close-buddies-only, random-Saturday-night slumber party.

at the comic book store

Well, that's not exactly true. She's been invited to quite a few, but we've never said yes before.  And as much as I racked my brains, I could not for the life of me remember when I went to my first one, but suddenly there's no age that sounds like it would be okay.  Ever.

grabbing popcorn for
our own movie night

And it didn't even matter at all that when I plugged their address into my truck's GPS, it didn't even register a route because they only lived around the corner.  [Well, yeah, okay, it did a little.]

spearing his
marshmallow

What won her case ultimately, though, was the one-two combination of both her and her Mommy separately using my very own arguments against me.  [I hate it when they do that!]

coaxing the toastiness

Because, yes, we knew every single little girl that was staying over this time, from class, from softball, from my own volunteering experience. And yes, we knew all of their parents. Had seen them in action on the sidelines. And they were all really good little girls from really good homes.  And yes, Saia is such a hardworker, helps around the house, and is a good student.

spooky stories by
flashlight

Dammit.

So, there was really no place else to go.  I had to concede.  And Saia was over-the-moon thrilled!!

Chago...eh...not so much.

dinner and a movie

And then, without realizing I'd suddenly turned into the mother that's wrapped completely around her children's pinkies, I shipped my daughter off on her first overnighter, and handed over control of the rest of my evening to my nearly 8-year-old son. Completely.

on-demand noodle soup

And he wasted no time jumping on that opportunity. His written and bulleted plan consisted of the following. In order. And with a timetable.

1. trip to the frozen yogurt shop immediately, to lessen the sting of being left out, of course
2. trip to the comic book store immediately after that, to soften him up, naturally
3. trip to the movie theatre right next to the comic book store immediately after that because, well, it's right there, for pete's sake, and to prepare for our own movie night, evidently
4. home to supervise Mama building a fire in the firepit to roast marshmallows outside, while we tell ghost stories, count the stars, and come back inside by 7:30 exactly to start the show
5. at precisely 7:30, we threw water on the fire, changed into our jammies, and he chose The Sorcerer's Apprentice from On Demand because it's the one movie his sister never wanted to rent
6. halfway through the movie, and the large tub of popcorn, all sitting atop the roasted marshmallows, which were nestled on top of the half-pint of frozen yogurt, he finally says his tummy is feeling cruddy and demands Vietnamese Pho (or Mama's version thereof)
7. As soon as the the movie is over, he races upstairs to set up the blankets in his fort (aka, converted top bunk) so we can read a whole chapter of Harry Potter before bed
8. Not tired yet, Mama, sing me a song...
9. Another one...
10. Ok, one more...

3 fried eggs

I woke up about an-hour-and-a-half later, a crick in my neck, no wait, that's his elbow. Crawled my way out of the fort and collapsed onto my own bed.

The following morning, he comes bounding in, all chipper and jolly, like the cat who swallowed the canary, and whispers in my ear, "Good morning, Mama, it's still just me and you today." :)

breakfast on the
step stool???

And so we begin again.  He requested a man's man breakfast of 3 fried eggs, and then proceeded to set up the step stool like a table, like he used to when he was 4, and gobbled up his breakfast right there in his penguin footy jammies.

off we go to pick up
his sister

We watched one of his favorite Life DVDs together, which really just means he narrates over Oprah and never lets me miss an awww moment -- not a bad trade-off, really.

her first request

But by then, much to his chagrin, the 24 Hours of Chago had finally come to an end, and it was time to go pick up his sister. Clearly, he was torn.  Reluctantly putting on his shoes.  Haphazardly combing his hair.  But he grabbed his scooter as I slung hers over my shoulder, and off we went, around the corner, and up the hill to retrieve his other half.

The moment I saw her, I thought she was gonna burst into tears. She had bags under her eyes. Her hair was all tangled. And she looked like she'd been put through a wringer. Literally. Whatever a wringer is.

All the way home she talked about what fun she had, the stuff they ate, the things they did, all interspersed with little bits of "and then I cried a little," and "I missed you," and "I was too hot," and "I was sooo thristy."  And the second we walked in the door, she asked if I could make her a big salad, and then immediately fell right into a deep nap after lunch.

And all is right with the world again.
...