Being an adult isn’t easy and, whenever possible, I try to avoid it at all costs. But when you’re in charge of watching over your niece and nephew you have to put on the big-boy pants and act like a grown-up. For the most part, that’s what I managed to do when Andy and I hosted Noah and Emi for their first sleepover at our home. It was a test-run to see if they were going to be invited to Boston with us for this December’s Children’s Holiday Hour.
It began with Suzie and her family joining us for a pizza and Ghapama, a very traditional Kardashian dish, or so I told the children. They listened a little too attentively (why does ANYONE listen to what I say, especially children?) and peppered me with Kardashian questions over the course of dinner.
Lesson #1: children are very literal. Too literal. My life is like a simile – no, my life is a metaphor, and a literal reading of what comes out of my mouth is a recipe for disaster. Oh well, it’s far too late not to be fanciful now.
After dinner, it was just Andy, the twins and me, and we went on a treasure hunt to see if the fairies left any gifts around this year, as they had in years past. It was dark out by the time we were ready to go on our search, which made following a rainbow ribbon to the metaphorical pot of gold an intriguing and slightly spooky experience. With flashlights in hand, we walked through the backyard before finding our way to their gift baskets, in which they were given a few crafts and fun Halloween items, including some monstrous fingernails.
We also made a cornucopia for next month’s holiday which added to the coziness of the night. There was some, shall we say, discussion about whether the twins were going to sleep in the main guest room or the basement where the television was, and there was another discussion about which DVD they were going to watch, so the compromise was that Noah picked out the movie ‘The Money Pit’ and Emi picked the sleeping quarters (the guest room).
Lesson #2: when it comes to children, especially twins, everything is a negotiation. Pray that a compromise rears its welcome head.
Uncle Andy made some popcorn while the twins and I started the movie. It was about to be a Shelley Long weekend, which brings back its own memories of my brother, who called to see how things were going. We put him on speaker phone, gave him a brief update, then went back to the movie. The last time we attempted to watch a DVD together we couldn’t make it through the whole thing. This time we had a break to get something to drink, and then finished it out. It was a good sign, and boded well for a trip to Boston.
These twins know their way around the selfie, and I could see they are just beginning to become a bit phone obsessed, so I made the most of the time we had now.
Lesson #3: Madonna was right when she said she lost her kids to the cel phone. Make the most of the time now. Or just tell them to shut it off and engage in the real world like Uncle Al did.
My biggest fear was that going to bed would be an argument, but as we traipsed upstairs to the guest room, they didn’t put up any resistance. I asked them to brush their teeth and told them Andy and I would be in to tuck them in, then explained that we could go to a diner for breakfast the next morning. We hugged them good-night, then they set about to settling in. Emi asked if they could watch some videos on their phone before falling asleep. I said that was fine.
Lesson #4: maybe cel phones aren’t entirely evil.
The next morning, we woke and set about our day. Noah caught me brushing my teeth and did the same without asking, then we dressed for the diner. As the fun Uncle, it’s not my responsibility to nag and instill healthy-eating habits into kids, hence these ice-cream covered waffles from the 76 Diner. I ordered the Eggs Florentine but clearly no one wanted to emulate that kind of behavior.
Lesson #5: sometimes you just have to let kids be kids, even if that means ice cream for breakfast.
For a first sleepover I think it went remarkably well. As the test run for our upcoming Boston Children’s Holiday Hour, they passed with flying colors, so Andy and I gave the go-ahead for them to join us in December. I’m already working on ways to make it magical…
