The Sleepover
At lunchtime yesterday a number of teenage girls – school friends of our youngest daughter – started arriving at our house for a sleepover in a tent in the garden. Because the school is a few miles from town, the only contact the circle of friends have had with each other all summer has been via the internet. We decided a to do something about that.
The number invited was more or less controlled by the size of the tent we have – an old family tent that saw us through numerous camping holidays when the children were little. We pitched it at the weekend, and then my other half does that thing she always seems to – turning something into a much bigger thing than it started out as. Suddenly it wasn't just a sleepover – it was a slime making party, a sing-off, a barbecue, a chocolate fountain massacre, and an open air movie in the garden (using a projector we inherited from the infant school).
So far I've had to rescue one of the girls from a tree in the garden she decided to climb, cook endless burgers and sausages on the barbecue (my GOD teenage girls can eat some rubbish), cook pancakes for breakfast, and provide the WiFi password to numerous phones and tablets.
They are a good bunch though – despite chattering, laughing, berping, and screaming until 1:30am, and then starting where they left off at 5am. I squinted at the alarm clock this morning, and wondered what they had left to talk about.
I wandered downstairs at 7, and found them sprawled all over the couches in the living room in their pyjamas – phones in hands – quietly playing games, catching up with friends, and doing whatever else teenage girls do.
It's been interesting to see how they interact with each other – who the ring-leaders are – who has a mind of their own. While we've known them all for several years, we've never seen them all together before.
Anyway.
It looks like I'll escape for a few hours today – my eldest daughter wants to go shopping – the same shopping trip that was supposed to happen yesterday. Wish me luck!