From The "It Gets Easier" Files: Sleepover

My daughter came home Friday with a request.  She'd been invited to sleep over at a friend's house that night.  Could she go?

The first sleepover terrified me.

A few subsequent ones caused significant anxiety and loss of sleep.

There was one for which we had to say no.

But this one felt surprisingly easy.

It was at the home of her oldest friend, at whose house she's slept several times before.

It's just a few blocks from our house.

The mom would never hesitate to call me about anything.

She'd eat dinner at home first and then go.

The house is always stocked with plenty of pre-packaged snack choices with their easy to use nutrition labels.  Since sleepovers and snacks go hand in hand, I'll take well-labeled junk food any day.

She'd have Dexi with her, which wasn't the case at the earliest sleepovers.

So aside from considering the next day's plans and the potential ramifications of sleepover-related lack of sleep, there wasn't much to think about.

"Yes. You can go." was an easy reply.

She checked on the way to her friend's house.  She texted me at 11 with a 'bedtime' number.  She texted me when she woke up at 7:30, and at before breakfast with a carb counting question.

The half an hour or so before 11 when I was struggling to keep my eyes open until her goodnight text was long.  The 45 minutes I was awake waiting for her good morning text was longer. Overall though, it truly felt like no big deal.

Would I still say no to an overnight 2 hours away?  Probably.  But small steps are being made for both of us, and that's a good thing.