Guest Post
It is only a matter of time before your child asks if they can have their friend to stay over for the night, closely followed with an added ‘s’, before you know it you are expected to babysit for a whole army of them! The idea of having more than one child to look after may fill you with dread, but thanks to the Americans, it is all the rage nowadays, especially among young girls, so here is a short guide to making the night pass without too many tantrums and tears.
Firstly you need to decide if your child and her chums are old enough for a night squashed in one room together. If they are too young or unused to sleeping away from home, very young kids will likely get homesick and have you reaching for the car keys when you should be turning off the night-lights! Little ones will also require you to watch over them like a hawk so be sensible when saying yes to the first sleepover request. If the kids are primary school age, it makes more sense to just allow one friend to sleep over at a time. This will usually be a child that you have already met a few times, and hopefully ones whose parents you also know reasonably well.
So, you have agreed to a number of ten year olds staying over? Great! Next you will likely get a few heavy hints to eradicate anything too childlike from your daughter’s bedroom.
You always knew that the day would come for hiding Snuggles the teddy and Polly the now ragged dolly, but so soon? Oh yes, bye bye to anything babyish, these MUST be hidden away though, not thrown! Be sure that on a sad day, these toys will be firmly ensconced back in bed where they belong or they will soon appear of their own accord after the friends have gone home.
It will also be around this time that your offspring will be asking for a bed that looks grown up and ‘cool’. Cool means many things to many people, but when choosing a bed, you need to take into account style, longevity and of course, price! Sleepeezee beds offer a huge range for kids, teens and adults, some are even ‘cool’ too! Also, make sure the mattress is a quality one, buying cheap on a mattress really can mean buying twice!
Bedding is the easiest and also a cheap way to keep up with your child’s passing fads.Flowers, Spock, One Direction or Yoda, there is a duvet cover out there to please your child and to create a new look for any tweenager! Do not forget about the camp bed, sofa bed or whatever you have for sleepy guests. Now is the time to invest in an extra item for sleeping on, it will come in handy more times than you can imagine!
Next there is feeding time in your own little zoo at home to consider. This is not the night for vegetables. This is not the night for fruit, even though they act like monkeys, you can’t throw them bananas! It’s pizza. Yep, horrid, unhealthy fast food pizza. Aha, it needn’t be horrid though or unhealthy.There are low-calorie and low fat pizzas available in supermarkets now, or you can buy the bases and ingredients and make your own, even get the kids to make them, if you are happy to clean up the mess afterwards that is!
Finally, a couple of DVD’s and a definite bedtime should be all that is needed.Bedtime will be ignored and the films won’t be seen as nobody will be able to hear them over the laughter, the shouting and the wonderful sound of several little people having fun!
If it’s any consolation, next time it’s someone else’s turn while you have a night off!
