Grace had her first sleepover Thursday night in preparation for five nights of church camp.  She cried and cried the night before.  I didn’t know what to do, so I called my sister Heather because they are very much alike.  They talked on the phone, and Heather asked me if she had to go to the sleepover.  It was completely logical to me that she go, I mean if she can’t handle one night at a friend’s house how is she going to handle five at camp?!?  But no, she doesn’t have to go if this is what it’s going to do to her.  We were going to have supper with her friend’s family though, so I asked if she wanted to pack a bag just in case.  She reluctantly agreed.  The next morning, she thought she would maybe go on the sleepover.  By that night she was really excited and the girls were planning away about what they were going to do.  Then at 10:45pm I got a text that she had been crying for 45 minutes.  So I got out of bed and got in the car to pick her up.  Her first question was, “Can I still go to camp?”  I hope that’s a good sign for how camp will go.

Then Friday night we were cooking s’mores with our neighbors and an impromptu sleepover happened with Ada at their house.  I ran across the street, grabbed her pillow, blanket, and pajamas.  This was our parting conversation:
Me: Good night Ada, I love you.
Ada: Will you miss me?
Me: Yes, I will miss you.  Will you miss me?
Ada: Yes, but I’ll be home tomorrow.
And that was it.  She was fine.  I called at 9:30 this morning to find out when I should pick her up.  I walked across the street and I could hear her singing from outside.  She was helping clean the table after breakfast.  When we left she said, “Good bye!  Have a good day!”  And that’s my Ada.

So there’s a glimpse for you.  I’m never going to have parenting down, because I can’t be the same mom to these three Littles.  Eli hasn’t had his first solo sleepover yet, so I have no idea what to expect there.  I guess stay tuned for that one…