In the "before" photo, my daughter stands in front of a lovingly decorated table. The other seven second-grade girls are expected to arrive at any moment, and her anticipation is evident. The house is clean, the snacks are ready, and balloons are swaying at our entrance.
Yes, folks, there is a party about to start, and oh, what a party it will be.
There are no "before" photos of the parents or the aunt who jumped in to help. If there were, we might not look quite so excited. The day before, we had the impression that two of the seven girls would be spending the night. After school, our daughter said she had good news for her! All seven girls wanted to sleep over now!
My daughter is nothing if not persuasive.
Following this news, there was a surge of parent text messages. It was our daughter's special day, and since she was so excited about her first sleepover, we begrudgingly accepted it. Furthermore, we had three adults at home, ready to be deployed at any time during the night if the kids desperately needed to come home, like a small army.
What could possibly go wrong?
This time of year, our family remembers the birthday party from hell. My daughter just turned 12. During the intervening years, she has grown at least two feet, lived through a global pandemic, started borrowing my shoes, and lost her enthusiasm for balloons. However, she has not lost her enthusiasm for sleepovers.
When Covid temporarily canceled birthday parties, I didn't disband it. It took at least three years to recover from the birthday party from hell. Last year, when we finally attempted another sleepover, attendance was limited to three, including our daughter.
Also, I personally knew the parents of the two guests and made sure to turn off phones before bedtime and not forget to charge them. We took other precautions, such as locking the medicine cabinet, hiding the magic 8 ball, and checking everyone’s overnight bags to ensure no one was smuggling in lipstick.