was there any sleep at the sleepover?

pooka has been clamoring for a sleepover for the past 2 years. kisu and i decided that, at six years old, she's probably ready. being off treatment had a lot to do with the timing, as well.

but since she has spent much of the last 2 years very closely attended by at least one of her parents, pooka has redeveloped some separation anxiety. now we have to help her learn to cope with it all over again.

thanks to kisu's current family-unfriendly work schedule our plan is to have her stay at granny and poppa's during my upcoming trip. i want her to be comfortable sleeping away from home, so i thought sleepovers with friends would be therapeutic in addition to being fun.

to that end, i talked with my friend gail, whose daughter olivia is in pooka's sunday school class. i didn't tell pooka that this was pending because i knew she would meltdown if it didn't come to pass. but in the meantime, i took her to the store (the one with the bull's-eye) to buy a sleeping bag.

didn't you know that you have to have a sleeping bag for a sleepover?

we found a good one-pink camo-and while we were there gail called and confirmed the event. pooka was in disbelief at first, then ecstasy.

on the way to drop her off, i drilled pooka on good manners and sleepover etiquette. i wasn't terribly worried, though, pooka is an outstanding kid, especially for other people. i focused mostly on what to do if she didn't like the food they offered.

their house is probably 2-3 times as big as ours, and the main floor is practically wall-to-wall toys. pooka didn't know where to turn first. i was fearful that she would come home and commence begging for one of everything that olivia had.

i let gail know that she could call my cell phone at any time if necessary and i left them to it.

i picked her up at church sunday and heard about how much fun they had. i wasn't sure pooka would sleep, although gail informed me that olivia crashed early from the previous day's activities. pooka was very good and gail invited her to stay over any time. in fact, we agreed to have her spend the saturday night while i'm gone. that way, it will break up the monotony of sleeping at poppa's, plus pooka won't have to miss church, especially since the newly-formed kid's choir is singing at both services that sunday.

all that's left is to arrange the reciprocal portion of our home-and-home series. gail warned me that olivia can be a pill, but i'm sure i can handle it. as long as i don't have to give her any pills.