"Sleep"over

 This year for his 9th birthday, in lieu of a traditional birthday party, the First Little Nguyen requested to have a few buddies over for the night. As you can imagine, part of me is sooooo sad because I love planning a birthday party around a theme.  What can I say?  It must be the teacher in me.  Last year, I relented when the First Little Nguyen asked for a sleepover and actually attempted to combine it with one of those great themed parties, planning several very cool Star Wars-related games and activities.  Of course, amidst the execution of my plans, there were cries of, "Another game? Can't we just play air hockey?" by several whiny 8-year olds. Sigh. Thus, the days of this child and his friends becoming giddy at the thought of playing another version of Pin-the-Tail-on-Something are gone. Over. Done.  Sniff.  It was fun while it lasted.  Alas, my little-boy-turned-nine-year-old does not want birthday party fun done my way anymore.  He has other plans.

Taking a water break at Monkey Joe's, shooting me a way cool smile.

And they weren't too bad, I must say. There is something waaaayyyy cool about watching one's son grow into his skin. Being one of six girls, there is something sooo interesting about watching him have the kind of hilarious nine-year-old-boy fun that he so desperately craves. There is something utterly heartwarming when he takes a break from his friends to glance your way as if to say, "Thanks, Mom." Or maybe I mistook that glance for, "Get out." Yeah. I am sure it was probably one of those. One thing I am learning is that, at the age of nine, he does not need me to "helicopter" around like I used to do.  He wants his own conversations, his own laughter, and his own space. Okay...I'm learning. Sigh.  He still loves me, I know.  He just needs me to go away for awhile.  I get it.  Waaaahhhh!  It's hurts being pushed away!  I'm wounded.  Clearly, I need to toughen up a bit before we reach the teenage years.

Think I can make this all about me just a teensy bit more?



Four silly friends

 So, the evening began with a trip to Monkey Joe's so the boys could run off some steam.  (Thanks again, Groupon!)  That they did.  And more.  They had so much fun!  I learned my lesson last year, foolishly thinking the boys would play a little air hockey, chow down on some tacos, and then crash in the bonus room while watching a movie.  Wrong.  I learned that encapsulating them in the bonus room does not necessarily shelter the rest of us from their noise, nor does it do a thing to help them expend their energy.  Thus, Monkey Joe's.  On a Friday evening, I would have thought the place would have been hoppin', but it was just the opposite.  We virtually had the place to ourselves for 2 hours!  It was waayy cool, as my son said.   The boys stopped for pizza about halfway through, and finally at 8 o'clock, we headed home. 

The ride home was, perhaps, the most eye-opening part for me.  The conversations!  OMG.  I just don't hear the conversations that 9-year-old boys have very often.  And it was as if I wasn't even there; I was just the chauffeur.  I almost felt demoted.  Of course, you can guess that there were obscene "boy" noises followed by smell-o-rific rating scales and roaring laughter.  The expression, "Dude!" was the overwhelming favorite and used about every 30 seconds:  "Dude, that slide burn bites!" and "Dude, those are rad shorts!" and "I am SO sweaty, Dude!" and "Dude, what are we eating next?"   You know, innocent words from little mouths, until....   "Dude, look at the moon!  You know what a full moon means, right?"  Of course, at this point, I figured I was going to need to chime in with my own verbage.  "It means the girls get uglier!"  Oh, boy.  Thank goodness the ride ended.  I can see what the mother-son relationship is going to be like from now on.  My sisters have often told me that parenthood would soon become something not unlike being a chauffeur.  I get it now.

Doesn't it look like I'm getting ready to clock him?!

Dressed in their PJ's and ready for ice cream sundaes!



Just don't even look at what they are loading up on...just don't.

 So, as if the surplus of extra energy running through these boys wasn't already enough, we somehow decided it would be a great idea to serve them something sweet.  Not just something sweet -- a lot of something sweet.  The boys built some Extreme Ice Cream Sundaes, and then we were extremely surprised at how fast they consumed them.  Again, I must express my alarm at the absolutely frightening appetite tendencies in nine-year-old boys.  My stomach hurt just looking at those bowls of ice cream, topped high with multiple scoops of ice cream, a river of chocolate syrup, and a storm of toppings.  It was a trick to find enough room to stick all nine of his birthday candles!  Later on, in the wee hours of the morning, we would learn what real regret was.  And we were reminded of what we always knew was true:  sugar has to kick in sometime!

It was a trick to find room for 9 candles in that bowl of ice cream!

From the looks of that giggle, it must have been REALLY funny!

Back to the giggling...



All lit up and ready to make a wish

BLOW!

All out...except for that trick candle!



Yay!  More crack cocaine LEGOS!



It's actually one we don't have!

 

Reading a birthday card

Last night, our sleep involved walking up and down the hallway from our bedroom to the bonus room numerous times, shhhhh-ing and quieting nocturnal giggles, straightening sleeping bags and getting drinks, and, finally, issuing flimsy threats that at least a few hours of sleep must occur in order for pancakes and eggs and bacon to appear in the morning. And, whew, are we tired. Why is the word "sleep" even part of sleepover when one never actually involves much sleep?

I have spent many sleepless nights as a parent. Haven't we all? I have spent many a night walking up and down the hallway with my babies, trying to coax them back into a peaceful state of slumber. I have spent the wee hours sitting at a Little Nguyen's bedside in a zombie-like state, ready and waiting with a plastic bucket, as if playing "catcher" in a Little League game of pukeball. I have laid awake all night long in bed, worrying about a fever spiking again, getting in and out of bed countless times to check on a sick child. Of course, all of these nights involved virtually no sleep, and they are simply common scenarios that mothers and fathers all over the world find themselves in every day. When you love your kids, you'll give away sleep in a heartbeat for any health and happiness it might bring them. But, somehow, as you struggle to keep your eyes open after only a few hours' sleep, it's difficult not to feel like the only parent on the face of the Earth that has even been sleep-deprived.  Little did I know that all of my parental sleep deprivation was really just some intense training for being the parent in charge at a sleepover!?  Again, why is the word "sleep" in sleepover when one never actually involves much sleep? 

I am glad this is exactly what the First Little Nguyen wanted.  Although it's not my idea of a good time to stay up until 1:30 in the morning and then wake up at 6:00, for some reason it's the perfect gift when you are a nine-year old boy to do that with a few good friends.  And, the thing is, they weren't naughty boys (except when one shut our bedroom door...maybe they were just being courteous!), and they kept to themselves in the bonus room.  All night long, we wished we had kept our baby monitors so that we could have stashed one under a sofa in the bonus room in order to tune into their conversation!  I was so very thankful when they all finally fell asleep, and I practically sprinted down the hallway to get in bed and shut my eyes.  6 a.m. came way too soon, and so did the pancake-making.  By 7:30, breakfast was done and over, all the boys were dressed, and we were pushing them out the door to shoot some hoops outside!  I am sure our neighbors were lying in bed, thanking us for all of the beautiful nine-year-old boy noise that was coming from the yard.  I'm telling you, they could be contained no longer.

There is a reason we do this only once a year.  I have done my obligatory sleepover, and I really am glad it was so much fun for the Birthday Boy.  When I said it wasn't my idea of a good time to stay up that late with friends, that was exactly true.  It's clear, now that he's growing older, that I can't apply what I love to do to his life anymore.  I love to plan a good party -- that kind of thing is part of my heart and soul.  I am so thankful for the great parties of my boys' childhoods. The 6th birthday Dinosaur Bash, the 5th birthday LEGO City Party, the 4th birthday at the Fire Station....these fulfilled their desire to have fun as well as my wish to plan something fun and unique.  These celebrations are all a part of us.  But the 9th birthday sleepover, as grueling as it was for us as parents, is part of us, too.  Although we weren't in love with the idea, one very important nine-year old was.  This is the joyous 9th birthday he will remember.  That makes my heart truly happy.