Five 9-year-old boys are in my living room right now. One of them is mine. This is probably the 5th or 6th such sleepover that has been held in our house.
As I sit down with an industrial strength cup of coffee, in the adjacent room to the now very "awake" slumber party, I'm pondering things I've learned from the current and past experiences:
~~~God invented rec rooms, basements and family rooms for a reason: sleepovers. (We converted our family room to another bedroom. This is the one day a year we regret that.)
~~~Boys are competitive. Whether it is video games, Yu-Gi-Oh! cards, who eats first, who drinks first, who pees first, whose present is opened first, who wakes up first... its all a competition.
~~~5 boys are too many for our "small house." (That label given to our home from one of the visiting boys. "Why didn't you buy a larger house," he asks me. I was tempted to start into a discussion about the sub-prime mortgage crisis, the looming recession and "how much a loaf of bread cost in my day" to explain why our fixer-upper home investment was a smart one, in today's economy... but held myself back. I just smiled.)
~~~The hosting boy can get bossy, frustrated or overwhelmed very quickly, with the slumber party he begged so much for.
~~~Little sisters will want to be involved in every aspect of the slumber party. Every single one. Bed time will be a struggle.
~~~9 year old boys are hungry. All the time. 3 pizzas, 3 2-liters of non-caffeinated soda, 4 pans of cinnamon rolls, half a gallon of milk and various snacks, fruits and drinks were barely enough. They were constantly asking for more food.
~~~ Naps are the logical afternoon activity after a slumber party. That doesn't mean they happen.
Next year, I'm capping the invitations at 3 boys total -- including Owen -- unless we buy a house with a rec room before then (not likely.) I'll buy more pizza (in years past I made them... the boys hunger has now expanded past the size of my oven), thaw more cinnamon rolls from the freezer, and pray for decent January weather -- so the kids can get some energy out, while running around outside.
If you'll excuse me.... I'm now about to call my parents and apologize for 10 years of slumber parties in their home.
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Ahhhh slumber parties. That post gave me very fond memories of the many slumber parties that I had and attended many many years ago.
In our household we tend to make our own pizzas, but a household of 9 year old boys is exactly why Little Caesars carries $5 pizzas.
In fact, their appetites are only going to get worse. In high school at band camp (yes I was in marching band) I once won a pizza eating competition by eating 32 pieces in less than an hour. Marching in the summer sun was not fun.
And before I go, just hope he doesn't start playing D&D because then you will have a household full of hungry boys over all night about every week.
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