Girls Night

Susan Claire came to spend the night last night and we had a girls night. When Ashley asked her if she wanted to come to my house she squealed and jumped on the phone to talk to me. She said she would bring girly movies and all of her dress up clothes. So cute!

The last time she spent the night I took her with me to the grocery store to get snacks, milk, breakfast stuff, etc. Big mistake. I ended up leaving with a lot more than I planned to get, like pomegranate applesauce for instance. She assured me that she liked it and would eat it, although freely admitted that she chose it because it was purple. Anyway, this time I got smart and went to the grocery store before I went to pick her up, and it was around 5:00 by the time I got to Ashley’s. Three trips to the car and 45 minutes later we were on our way. I convinced her not to bring the ginormous bag of dress up clothes she had prepared, because my kitties would probably mess them up with their claws. In reality, I didn’t want her bring the ball-o-glitter that is her favorite Ariel dress and end up getting green glitter all over my house. I mean, I’m all about decorating for St. Patrick’s Day but that would be a little extreme. Instead she only brought 2 dresses, in addition to her Cinderella shoes, a crown, 5 movies, her sleeping bag, and her overnight bag (which had 2 stuffed animals and a baby doll stuffed inside).

(Side note: SC is famous for getting me sick. If she has a cold, she always gives it to me. Ashley is sick right now and it did cross my mind that SC could potentially bring the sickness with her. But she was fine, not even a runny nose, so I forgot about it. No joke? Halfway to my house she is sneezing and green stuff is coming out of her nose. I mean really??) 

Once we got home and I unloaded all of her stuff, we settled in to watch a movie. She put on her dress up clothes and her crown, set up her sleeping bag, and then had me waiting on her with snacks and drinks. After a few hours of movies, snacks, bath time, and more movies and snacks, it was bedtime. SC was planning to sleep in the bed with me, which I expected because she says she gets scared sometimes at my house. I also knew from past experience that I was in for a night of not so much sleep. I lay down with her for a little while to get her settled and honestly could have gone to sleep myself. She was talking and playing with her stuffed animals, showing no signs of being sleepy. Hmm… maybe the Hershey’s kisses and sprite she was having a half hour before bedtime weren’t such a good idea? Heh. Then she put her hand on my face and sang Rock-a-bye baby, and 2 minutes later she was snoring. So funny!

I decided to go to bed sort of early for two reasons; one, because I had gotten up early that day for dance and was tired, and two, because I knew I wouldn’t be getting much sleep that night. SC is notorious for moving around in her sleep, and if you are sleeping next to her then you are out of luck. I was in my room for about 10-15 minutes getting ready for bed, and she didn’t move a muscle. Hey, I thought, maybe this won’t be so bad. No kidding? I’m in the bed for less than 2 minutes and she is flopping around like a fish on a dock. I guess she has some sort of spidey sense for when someone is lying next to her. At this point she was in the middle of the bed, so I moved her over to her side and settled in to go to sleep. About 30 seconds later she kicked me in the groin and flopped her legs over on top of me. I moved her over again and tried to go to sleep. A little while later I felt her next to me again, and I looked at the clock hoping at least an hour or so had passed. Nope, just 10 minutes. Sigh. It was going to be a long night.

I woke up about every 15 minutes, and either moved her completely back to her side or moved whatever appendage was draped over me at that point. Wake up, move her, fix covers. Wake up, move her, fix covers. I got clocked in the nose and smacked in the face at one point, and a few more kicks to the stomach. Around 3:30am I finally gave up and left her alone, and tried to salvage the rest of the night’s sleep.  And by the way, when I say she was next to me, I mean she was thisclosetomybody. You couldn’t have wedged a piece of paper between us. For someone who doesn’t like to be touched and certainly doesn’t like to be touched when I’m sleeping, this was mighty uncomfortable. I stared longingly at the entire other side of the bed that was empty and lonely and wasted space. But then I watched her sleeping and I realize it’s not so bad. So maybe I don't get a good night's sleep. It's worth it just to wake up in the morning to a pat on the shoulder and a kiss on the cheek from my favorite niece.  And who am I kidding? I’m sure she’ll sleep with me the next time she comes too. 

Movie, check. Dress up clothes, check. Snack, check. Sleeping bag, check.