I will have 9 children in my house tonight. Think I had a temporary moment of insanity when I allowed 2 of my children to have a sleepover on the same night. My youngest 2 have birthdays 5 days apart in September and wanted sleepovers then.. but youngest lost the sleep over due to backchat and my son's friends couldn't some then.... so I said provided no more backchat they could have a sleepover in half term. It seemed a long way away then!! I have 5 9 year old girls watching High School Musical 2 (singing along too) and 3 boys upstairs... I think playing on the computer. My eldest is at her flute lesson. I have promised a chocolate fountain. The mess!!!!

The forums will have to keep me sane tonight.


To top it all I can't have even 1 glass of wine tonight due to a couple of dodgy liver function tests following hyperthyroidism!!!! My consultant wants no alcohol till next test next month so he can assess what the liver is doing accurately!!!!

Why oh why would you do that to yourself? I have babysat at sleepovers a few times (and goodness knows if parents promise sleepovers, going out seems like a bit of a cop-out) but anyway they are always tiring, and very loud. When my sister has big sleepovers too - definitely a night for me to be absent. I never remember being that loud... time must have blurred my memories

My mum never let two of us have sleepovers at the same time... if she promised me and my brother/sister one in the half term they were separate days... I wonder if that's better or worse... maybe less hassle, but two whole nights of losing sleep instead of one...

At least they'll all be gone tomorrow. The boys are being very quiet apart from when they decide to storm the room the girls are in!!!! They have already broken a light!!!! Whoops....

Good luck!

wait until they have the age/contacts to get alcohol!

Umm... not too sure I'm looking forward to that one!!!!!

I think they are all in the bathroom now (girls... not the boys)... but it's tea time... so I'll have to discover what they are up to. Not idea what the boys are doing. they are VERY quiet. That might be a bad thing!!!

Oooh.

Not too comforting a thought for you at the moment, but i thought i'd add it: for my 11th birthday, i had 6 friends round and we were up the whole of the night and i think we must have been like h ell for my family - my mum promised me that i'd never have a sleepover with more than 1 person ever again (she's kept her word, but i've kind of grown out of them anyway).

In the bathroom

It could be something involving toilatrees(sp) I used to make potions with them when I was that age.

I haven't! Well, at least I've not grown out of having friends come round and watch DVDs and talk into the early hours. I suppose I don't do the whole chocolate fountain/running around screaming type thing. Most of the parties I go to end in a sort of sleepover too, I doubt my mum'd be happy for me to come home disturbing everyone in the early hours, and in that sort of condition. Better to come home quiet and subdued in the morning.

Well at the parties I go to they do the running around screaming thing, its just theyre drunk also when they do it.

Think they were just putting makeup on. Eating now. One girl was sweetness and light "Thank you Nicki... this is no nice Nicki".... then when I was out of room was shouting at the boys!!!!

My 13 yo is in with them at the mo... acting as referree.

ahh thats pretty typical I think with the confidence, but dont forget to watch the quiet ones! Just joking though Im not really a "control freak" or something.

At least at some point (hopefully) they will go to sleep! I've had nine teenage girls on my lounge floor before and apart from some rather fruity topics of conversation (to which I had to cough very loudly to announce my nearby presence in the kitchen - they were talking LOUDLY!) they were fine.

My youngest son had four lads round - two very naughty ones who kept waking up the sleepy ones by giving them wedgies - evil children. He lived in our village so I theatened to bundle him up the hill if he didn't pack it in. I then sat there in the midst of them with my pint of beer (it might have to be what's left of the chocolate fountain for you..) and completely cramped their style. My ominous adult company sent them all off to sleep.

The other one we did when my three were about 15,12 and 9 (the 9 yr old didn't do the whole thing) was a sponsored 48 hour stay awake for charity. They drank copious amounts of red bull and kept a video diary. I was up at 06.45 in the half term holiday taking them up to see my early riser friend and his chickens. The biggest problem was that they got so bored. In the end my husband and I were shaking them to keep them awake. My husband even resorted to playing his concertina very loudly down one lad's ear to help keep him from falling asleep. He was lucky he didn't het a mouthful of abuse. However, they did it and raised over £400 for Cancer Research - never again, mind you!

Just finished the chocolate fountain!!!! They have all covered their faces in chocolate and are now removing the chocolate from their faces!!! At least they have increased their intake of fruit and veg but not too sure if strawberry consumption counts if it's covered in chocolate!!! Table cloth messy but not the dining room so that's ok.....
Actually, they are nice kids...and behave quite well. Most of the girls are eldest children .. who don't have brothers and they aren't too sure how to deal with 11 year old boys!!!!

Nine children in the house? Good luck!

It sounds as though things are going well (apart from the broken light). If they're reluctant to go to sleep tonight, introduce the rule that the last one to go to sleep has to help with the clearing up tomorrow morning

I banned sleepovers a couple of years ago when my daughters friend decided she was going to keep everyone awake all night (not us just the children). She engineered staying once since and I put her on the bottom bunk in the eldests room.

Just think of all the peace you'll have when they get invited back.

Unfortunately they rarely get invited back at the same time... and eldest declined the option of having a friend to keep her sane!!! Girls are watching a film with my eldest girl in the room where they are to sleep. We have a fairly large house and have a "cinema room" with a big screen, where they are sleeping!!!
Boys declined to watch the girly film and having been watching Tintin on a TV and are off to bed now!!! I think I'll leave them to it!! Boys will sleep well I think and girls are far enough away for me not to hear!!!

One girl had wanted to bring a 12 cert dvd to watch and I had to say NO! They are nearly all in Yr 4 and some of the other mother's wouldn't be impressed if they watched a 12!!!!!

Better check boys are sorting beds out!!!

spoil sport
you can't imagine how good it is to watch 12 films when you're 9 or 10!

I think you are very brave having sleepovers at junior age - I would only let my children have one friend to stay over at that point. Later on we had some successful ones where hubby and I used earplugs and the kids all "slept" downstairs - not that anyone seems to sleep on a sleepover!

Best of luck tonight! As long as they all enjoy it, that's the main thing, and you can catch up on sleep tomorrow.

I survived!!!

Told boys to stop talking just after midnight and they did. They woke up about 8am. Girls were downstairs and went to sleep about 1 apparently!!! Not bad.

Only annoying event was that my son had set his alarm on his phone for 4:30pm to show his friend his ringtone. His phone is his first and a hand me down from big sister (who is still asleep). Well... guess what? He got 4:30am by mistake. He'd left the phone in the kitchen . I didn't find it first time... believing the noise was coming from one of the rooms with children in... then it went off 15 mins later!!! By this time I was wide awake. It didn't wake any of the children... just my husband and 1!!!!..

Sorry to laugh, Nicki, but isn't that always the way?!

It sounds as if you had a very successful party, so you should now have lots of Brownie points from your children as well as a great excuse not to hold another for at least six months! Well done!

Couldn't possibly do another one for t least 6 months!!!!
All kids gone bar one... but one of my own children has gone too.... Her friend whose mum has twin baby boys (born in August) has left the boys with Daddy and taken my daughter out for the day!!! I think she knows that twin baby boys are harder work than 2 9yo girls in the cinema!

All children were happy and enjoyed themselves. House not too messy even. Peace reigns.

And tonight I'll check son's mobile before he goes to bed!!!!!!

*Phew*

Well done!