Thursday, January 3, 2013

Sleep Over Success

...well, it's been a while, hasn't it? last days of school, winter break, holidays, etc has kept us busy...now it's time to catch you up on all the bloggable stuff!

Sleep Overs....ah, the bane of my existence.

It's not that have anything against them, per se.  It's just that with T1 in the picture, they are a challenge not for the faint of heart and the already sleep deprived!

In our circle of friends, there are 5 girls within a year of Bean, 3 that are in the same grade as her.  Our get togethers rarely end without someone sleeping at someone else's house.  That is, except for Bean.  It's just not possible to be spontaneous with an over-nighter with T1.  There's just too many supplies that must be packed, just in case, for there to be a spare of the moment, 'sure, you can spend the night with so-and-so.'

One recent get together was coming to a close and all the kids were going to be spending the night at a certain house.  This particular mom is the least knowledgeable about T1 in our group (no fault of her own, just happens to be that way) so it was really out of the question for Bean to spend the night.  This sent Bean into a bigger than normal tail spin and crying fit.  I'm talking wails that could be heard downstairs from a behind a closed bedroom door upstairs.
After a heart to heart with her, she calmed down.  But, it wasn't until one of our friends made the call for her daughter to be returned to the house we were still at so that her daughter could spend the night at our house instead, that Bean truly snapped out of it and was smiling again.  In fact, both girls were beyond giddy and were rather giggly all the way home!
That sleep over went fine....we were at our house, so no need to pack a suitcase of supplies....but Bean got very little sleep and wasn't the most pleasant child to be around the next day.

Because of that night, Ubergeek had a chat with Bean about her not being quite ready for 'on her own' sleepovers, and it was agreed that any sleep overs in the future would have to be planned in advance and would require one of us staying the night.

Cut to the first night of Winter Break and an invitation long in the making with one of our friends to figure out how Bean could spend the night.
The girls and I went over for a playdate (Bug LOVES the kids of this family, too) and then I took Bug and picked up Ubergeek from work and dropped them at the grandparents' for a night of their own fun and headed back to Bean.
Bean and her friend played and played.  My friend (the mom) and I talked and enjoyed some yummy beverages..and even some middle of the night Christmas shopping after her hubby got home from the late shift.
Yeah, there wasn't a whole lot of sleep during the sleep over, but it wasn't anything a good nap couldn't help fix.

Bean was over the moon happy to be able to have a sleep over and she honestly didn't care that I had to be there.  In fact, it helped because she doesn't do all that well out of her own bed and routine.  I was there to help convince her that, yes, it was possible to sleep on a different pillow without her music playing and with the light from the neighbor's dusk-to-dawn light coming through the window instead of her dimmed lamp.
I had a great time catching up with my friend because we hadn't had the chance to hang out in quite a while.
So, it truly was win-win.

Next sleep over, I plan to try to get a bit more actual sleep!  :)

11 comments:

  1. Sleepovers are so hard on the girls, such a big part of life at that age; so glad Bean (and mammy) got to have one. We're lucky that K can go to her cousin (my sister happens to be a nurse & is happy to do a 2 a.m. check) but i definitely agree with the fact that the humour the next day leaves something to be desired.... :)

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  2. Ella just had her second sleep-over at Mimi's house. I am so much more confident with the G4 on her. I usually tell my Mom to check her at 11:00pm & if she's between 140 & 200 I tell her to let it ride, knowing Dex will alert if she goes too high or low. She ran a little high last time (woke up at 240) but nothing a little dose of insulin couldn't fix in the morning.

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  3. I have yet to do a sleep-over at a friend's house...there are only a few people I would trust. Ella hasn't asked yet so I'm letting sleeping dogs sleep. Ha!

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  4. i used to go sleepover from a young age (like 4?) as 1 best friend was diabetic and the other had a mum who was a nurse. i was about 8 when i had a sleepover at a friends whose parentss didnt know a lot about t1 luckily night went perfectly fine

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  5. That just breaks my heart that she was crying so hard about it...I can just imagine. So glad it turned out great and she was happy. Thankfully, Natalie doesn't want to sleep away from me yet so we haven't had to disappoint her.

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  6. I never had betes as a child but sleepovers were MY FAVOURITE! so I can sympathize with how Bean feels and can also sympathize with the D-work and BURDEN.

    Hope there is a happy medium somewhere for you guys

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  7. I had a friend growing up who could NOT sleep away from home - no matter how many times we tried (cried till we took her home). For a while she couldn't even sleep in her own living room. And that was WITHOUT diabetes!!!

    Glad you are figuring out a way to make it work!

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  8. I have yet to let J go one one, and I know it's gonna have to happen. Wtg on working it out! I'm sure she was so excited!!

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  9. Looks like Bean is off to a pretty decent start. I love the idea that ubbergeek brought regarding Bean's "own" sleep over issues.
    One day at a time, right.

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