p I'm Shirly. I threw my son a sleepover for every boy in his class, and I lived to tell the tale.
p True. I may have asked myself "what on earth was I thinking?". My husband may have asked me too many times "why do we need this?", and at 2 am a few words may, may, may, may have crossed my mind that aren't fit for this forum.
p But I've talked many times about how what I want most in the world is to create good memories for my kids.
p So why enjoy alone?
p You can see all this and more in our stories too.
p This experience: a whole night. Your friends sleep over with you. Everyone came in your honor. You're all spoiled. It was the first time anyone in the class had done it, and it definitely added a sweet memory to Ido's memory bank.
p And that's all I wanted.
p Oh, and a crown on my head too :)
p I got it personally from all the stunned parents, from Ido, and in the end from Roni too, bless my husband. But I digress!
p First, I realized the price we'd pay for the party would be in effort, not in money. Meaning, cheap!!
p Step one
p Ordering all the decorations ahead on AliExpress: the idea was a soccer birthday, Ido's biggest hobby. Of course you can do any theme: Sesame Street, SpongeBob and more.
p A selfie station! A poster with something that suits your kid and a personal caption (just search for "Photography Backdrop" and you'll find one). I even rolled out a red carpet next to it (which was of course a disposable red tablecloth; we said extra-low budget). Bags for the party favors
p Party favors
p Personal popcorn boxes
p Some napkins and plates (just for the snack plates)
p Balloons
q “Create memories. Not stuff” Me
p Step two
p Stations: the slogan of the planning was Keep it simple.
p If it's going to be an old-school sleepover, let it really be old school. Work with what you have at home.
p A PlayStation station
p A board games station
p A snack station, of course
p A computer station
p A chill-out corner
p A movie theater station (here I handed out personal popcorn to each kid)
p We have a residents' club room in our building, so we went down there for a while; after all, boys need to let off steam.
p And that's it.
p Stations and screaming.
p Lots of screaming.
p They say girls are shrieky. You obviously haven't thrown a boys' sleepover lately, huh?
p Hours of operation: from eight in the evening to 10 in the morning. 26 hours of sensory intoxication. Or sensory overload?
p Doesn't matter, something with senses.
p I just don't remember. I've had lots of voices in my head ever since.
p Step three
p Logistics:
p I borrowed mattresses from neighbors and told the parents I'd handle the bedding and they should just bring pillows and toothbrushes. Have I mentioned I'm a queen? Sorry, I'm digressing again.
p Buy food for the evening, the night (it turns out) and breakfast
p A cake
p Printing photos to arrange into the birthday boy's age (photo below)
p A WhatsApp group with a save-the-date
p Sedatives and earplugs, and a prayer wouldn't hurt
p What can I say, it happened and it's over.
p They made loads of noise, I hadn't pulled an all-nighter since Yael was teething a good few years ago, but how happy Ido was. The happiest. And you know what? Not just him. All the other kids too. The other kids' parents too. The other kids' siblings. In short, I gave the universe a whooole lot that night. I've done my part.
p What a memory we gave him, and those 26 hours would have passed anyway, so I'm glad we did it for him.
p For more birthday ideas, read here.
p Don't feel like a party at all this year? How about a night at a hotel with Mom instead of a party?
p Read about this no-less-fun idea in this post, because why enjoy alone?
p See you :)