Sleepovers!

Tis the season for....SLEEPOVERS!

With the holidays behind us and the newness of all the toys wearing off, it's time for friends again! Both my girls are total opposites when it comes to being social. Kayleigh has always been very quiet and holds just a few close friends, while Kacey is my social butterfly and she's friends with everyone.

Kayleigh started having sleepovers when she was about 7-8 years old. All her birthday parties would end with girls asking their Moms to stay or they'd just bring their stuff to stay because they'd have so much fun playing that they wouldn't want to leave. She used to have a very close group of friends that came over a few times a month during her middle school years. As she got into high school, she quickly found out that those friends were not her "true" friends and they drifted apart. The sleepovers dwindled and the house was quiet. This year has been a trying year for Kayleigh with friends. She's now very aware that there are some people she doesn't want to hang out with for one reason or another and she's becoming very choosy about her friends. She doesn't want her name mixed in with the wrong crowd and I'm thankful that she's able to see that at such a young age. She began to talk about a select group of "new" friends. One girl in particular named Kerri. They have the same lunch block and so they eat together every day. They're also in Culinary together so she's been an ear for Kayleigh. Kerri moved here this year, she's kind of quiet just like Kayleigh, shares the same interests as Kayleigh and doesn't have many friends either. In fact, before they knew that they had lunch together, Kerri ate with one other girl. I remember how difficult it was to make friends in high school and things are even harder in this day in time! Kids are so cruel! So, when Kay and Kerri started talking, it was instant friendship! She's been talking about her alot and she asked if Kerri could come over to visit. So we arranged for her to come over.

Kacey on the other hand, has never had a sleepover. With the diagnosis of diabetes happening around the time that she'd start having friends come over, it's not been something we've really ventured into. Kacey is about 10 times more social than Kayleigh! She's the child that walks down the hallway at school and everyone waves to her or they're yelling "HI KACEY!" She's got many friends and they've come to visit but none that we've ever asked to sleep over....until now! Kacey has become really good friends with my friend Jill's daughter, Elaina. Jill and I met when we were in high school. We both played softball and traveled in the same circle of friends but we never hung out together then. It wasn't until Kacey started playing softball that we met back up. Jill's oldest son is the same age as Kacey and they ended up on the same team. Yes, the team she was playing on when she was diagnosed *sad*. Jill's husband and Frankie have been friends since they were little so when we all met back up, it was one of those "AH-HA!" moments. Our families meshed well! Jill and I went through the sub class together and we're both sub's in the school system now. So Elaina and Kacey ended up becoming really good friends since we've started hanging out together and they've been planning a sleepover.

Last night, both girls invited their friends over. Kayleigh invited Kerri and Kacey invited Elaina. I doubled the girls in the house and can you believe there wasn't a single agrument! They were all occupied and having tons of fun! I knew as soon as we met Kerri that she was a sweetie! She's much more quiet than the friends Kayleigh had come over before so for a while I was having to check on them because it was so quiet. She's so polite and those little "thank-you's" go a long way in our house! This morning, the girls got up and we all had breakfast. Frankie and I cooked for them all. After they finished breakfast, they all got dressed and they wanted to take some fun pictures. Kayleigh and Kerri went to do their hair and when they came out, Kerri was thrilled about being able to use a wide flat iron on her long hair. She said she had one of those skinny ones and because her hair is so curly, it takes so long to make her hair straight. They went into the other room and I could hear them in there acting all giddy about how pretty her hair was. I was sitting on the couch with my coffee and Frankie was kicked back in his recliner. I looked over at him and asked, "Do you think I should give her my old straightener?" His reply....YES! I called Kayleigh into my bathroom without Kerri and asked her if she wanted to give Kerri the straightener because we had a really good one and that one was collecting dust in the drawer as a "backup" and I thought she could use it more. I thought Kayleigh was gonna cry! She started jumping up and down and took off running into the other room where Kerri was. She gave her the straightener and I could hear the giggles and excitement all the way in the living room. Kayleigh came running back in and said Kerri LOVED it and was so excited because she didn't have the money to buy a bigger one and the one she has is just a cheap one from the dollar store. *sigh* So why does my heart feel like it's about to bust? She's such a nice girl and getting to know her over the last 24 hours just proves to me that some kids have such a tough life but she's striving to make the best of it. It's also proven to Kayleigh that she needs to be greatful for what she's got because she's got so much more than most kids could ever have! It also showed Kayleigh...if you've got something that you're not using but someone else could use then give it away!

It's 1pm here and this is the first time I've never rushed their friends out! I'd have to say....thats a GOOD thing!