When Claudia gets the house to herself

My daughter has a new sleeping bag with her name on it. She's been dying to go to someone's house for a sleepover. I've been hesitant to encourage it because we tried it last summer and she got nervous and came home before bedtime. However, she assured me that she was ready. So, I posted on Facebook that the kid was ready for a sleepover if anyone wanted to invite her. I'm friends with some of her friends' moms on Facebook. She quickly got an offer and accepted it just as quickly.  The plan was set for a sleepover on Saturday night.

Before dropping her off for the sleepover, I took her rollerskating at the local skating rink. On the way home, we had a talk about manners.  I reminded her to be polite when she is a guest in someone's home. "What do you say when someone offers you some food that you don't want?" I asked her.

"No, thank you!" she said proudly.

"Great! Just make sure you don't say, 'Oh, that's disgusting.'"  (She once did this, which is why I knew bringing it up was valid.)

She thought for a few moments. "Can I still think it in my head even if I don't say it? Like, I can think 'oh, that's disgusting' but not say it?"

I was stumped for a moment. "Sure, I guess so," I said. I mean, what do you say to that?

I dropped her off at her friend's house about an hour later and kept my fingers crossed that she would stay through the night. As for me, I was pretty giddy about getting the house to myself. P had to work so it was just me and my doggies.

Here are the various activities that comprised my evening:
  1. Fed the dogs.
  2. Lit some candles and plugged in my bowl o' rocks. 
  3. Let the dogs in and out in various combinations. Asked them why they can't coordinate it so that they all go in/out at once instead of me opening/closing the door three separate times. 
  4. Noticed that Gideon's ears were gunky. Cleaned them out with a series of Q-tips and then squirted some gunk in there. He was less than thrilled.
  5. Attempted to clip Gretchen's toenails. She was not down with it. I'll probably have to have P hold her while I make my next attempt.
  6. Watched part of "The Biggest Loser." Tried to decide whether I like Jillian or hate her.
  7. Sorted my nail polish drawer. Tossed out the bottles I've had since Clinton was in office.
  8. Soaked my feet in a bubbling foot bath. However, don't tell my daughter because she gets really pissy if I do this without her. 
  9. Slathered my face with a couple of facial peel-off and mud masks. Fervently hoped I wouldn't get a call that I had to pick up my daughter from the sleepover prematurely - driving around the neighborhood with a green clay mask on my face seemed like it would be traumatic for all involved.
  10. Drank some blackberry merlot. 
  11. Watched "The Incredible Dr. Pol."
  12. Watched "Pit Bulls and Parolees." 
  13. Played Words with Friends. Lost three games in a row.

I hadn't gotten much sleep the night before so I was asleep by 11:30 or so on Saturday. This morning I got up and headed to church. It was very strange not to have to yell, "BRUSH YOUR TEETH WE ARE LEAVING NOW!" a dozen times or more.

I have a small confession, though, which is that I started to miss the little sassbucket this morning. We always go to church together. She goes around and greets all the kids and then hugs her favorite grown-ups. It occurred to me that maybe I should fill in for her, but it might have been a little awkward for me to fling myself at the mid-section of my fellow congregants.

Anyway, she is home now and I'm guessing she didn't get a ton of sleep last night. Things could get ugly later this evening. But, c'est la vie. Here's to successful sleepovers!

Gretchen Scissorpaws

There is a very slight possibility that I used too much soap in the foot bath

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

It's been a minute, but let's talk about my b*o*o*b*s

Image
I'm in the sixth grade. I'm sitting on the floor at my friend Sharon's house. Rachel is there, too. My well-meaning friends turn to me and gently let me know that I "really don't need to bother wearing a bra." They aren't wrong. I'm wearing one, but the situation doesn't particularly warrant it.  Two years later, I found myself sporting a C cup. My mom, a talented seamstress, made me a dress at about that time. It was a slim-fitting column dress with a matching jacket, as I recall. The white fabric had large polka dots; we jokingly called it the Wonder Bread dress. My mom took my measurements. 36-24-36 At some point in history, those numbers were considered "perfect measurements" for a woman. This was 1984; I'd like to think the world as a whole is less concerned about such things these days. I'm confident my daughter has no earthly idea what her measurements are. She just knows she's cute.  Growing up with a fun array of medi...
Read more

On Being Patriotic

The list of adjectives I assign to myself is pretty long: clumsy, organized, competent, uptight, etc. One that might surprise you: patriotic. I fully understand what it means to be an American and am darned happy about living here. But, I have a beef (that part won't surprise you). I've grown tired of certain segments of the population thinking that they've cornered the market on patriotism or that they can dictate precisely how the rest of us express ourselves when it comes to our shared country and flag. Sometimes it seems like the Toby-Keith-boot-in-yer-ass brand of patriotism drowns out the rest of us. For the record, I don't believe that patriotism requires a love of NASCAR, a disdain for immigrants, a Republican voting record, or a preference for country music. Nor does it require adherence to a specific religion. I've seen Facebook posts from some of my friends and acquaintances that call for all of us to return to the "Christian principles on which ...
Read more

14 Weeks

Image
My baby is leaving me in 14 weeks.  She and I started touring colleges in May of 2022. When I applied to colleges back in 1988, I was an English major so there were no auditions. Colleges basically just said, "Sounds good. Come on in." I was the first person in my immediate family to go to college and as a whole, I don't think we understood the importance of campus visits and such. I ended up being fairly miserable that first year until I transferred to a school closer to home. For my daughter, I wanted to make sure she had an opportunity to see lots of college campuses so that she had the best shot at figuring out what she wants out of the college experience. I wanted her to look at elements like campus size and location, diversity, activities, distance from home, and distance from the nearest "big city" (since performers often head to larger cities with active theatre scenes after college).  Last summer, we began the daunting process known as "getting int...
Read more