First Sleepover

Today marks an important milestone in my daughter's childhood. She is off for her very first sleepover with a friend tonight. She has had nights away at Granny's before, but this will be the first time she has no family with her.

The mum of the little girl she's staying with is my best friend, and has been since childhood. So I've no worries whatsoever about her being cared for. But the girls are still very young. My daughter is 4 and my friend's little girl is just 3 and a half. But they have been on at us for months about having a sleepover, so we figured we'd give it a go.

We decided it would probably be more successful at their house rather than mine. My daughter is far more independent than my friend's, possibly down to the fact that she's 7 months older. We've arranged for a 4pm collection, so there's minimal time to miss mummy before bed. I just hope they're prepared for the 5am wake up call! Then again, who knows, maybe without her brothers and with the influence of her friend, my daughter won't get up so early? 

As a child, my mum very rarely let me go for sleepovers. I used to think she was just being mean, and I gave her a really hard time about it! But now, as a mother myself, I realise she was just being cautious about who she left her baby with. And looking back, I can see now that those she did let me go to were the ones whose parents she knew personally. I hate to use the cliché, but I think I am turning into my mother! 

So tonight, although I know my girl will be safe and looked after, there will still be that little void at bedtime. I will miss our storytime cuddle, and tucking her in again when I go up to bed. But I know she'll have a blast. They've got it all planned out, where they will sleep, what games they will play, which teddies they will cuddle. And, on another level, it's quite exciting for my friend and I that having grown up so close together, our daughters are now developing a similar friendship. 

Fingers crossed for a successful first sleepover.