My darling friend Caroline…who turned four years old this past November…invited me to her sleepover party this coming weekend. You know, the sleepover her mother doesn’t know about and hasn’t sent out invitations for. But for Caroline, the invitation to sleepover is her reward for me coming over and cooking dinner and playing with her and most especially for sneaking her strawberries while we were waiting for dinner to be ready.
But really, why am I telling you this? Because the list of things that I need to bring to this sleepover proves that we adults seriously underestimate our 4-year-olds.
You see, Caroline is very accurately termed “a drama queen,” which naturally means…she is a princess. With champion military general command, she demands…and gets…the attention she wants. Why? Because she is so darn cute…and I get to give her back when I’m done.
So I indulged Caroline when she brought me a piece of notebook paper and a pen, and started writing down our list of things to bring to her sleepover. The list started off simply, classically, innocently enough:
- sleeping bag–I can borrow her purple and black one, but she gets to sleep in the princess one
- bear
- blanket
- movies
- majamas
- toothbrush and toothpaste
- Viking (my dog) to play with Snickers (her dog)
- pillowpet (hers is a ladybug, but mine can be a hippo)
- dress up clothes
- panties
- jewelry–specifically earrings, necklace, and glasses
- makeup kit
- nail polish
All things that moms remember from their own childhood sleepovers (at least I hope they do), and we all can reasonably expect to be requested as part of any girls’ sleepover. I know my other little girl BFFs expect the same things!
But then Caroline’s list took…well…an interesting twist. Her mother Heather and I have determined I will require a UHaul rental in order to arrive at the sleepover properly equipped. The list continued
- food–cheese, lettuce, carrots and hummus, donuts
- drinks–soda
- my mommy (Marsha)
- computer and charger
- camera
- DS–or I can borrow her brother Brian’s since he has TWO!!!
- picture books
- paper and pencils and scissors
- books
- tissue (yeah, like kleenex)
- a little lamp
- light bulbs
- pictures
- ornaments–we can hang them from the ceiling since the Christmas tree has been put away
- flowers
- artwork
- calendar
- my daddy (Ed)
- a fan
- shirts and pants
- socks and shoes
- morning time clothes
- brooms
- “all my stuff”
- singing books
- water bottles
- candles
- jackets in case it is cold
- trash bags in case we run out
- stools
- medicine in case I get hungry for medicine
- spoons for eating
- camera bag and batteries
- plates
- curtains
- carpet
And I am expressly forbidden to bring the following: my refrigerator and my couch.
I never got around to asking Caroline what we would do during our sleepover, or what the other girls are bringing. I figure it will take the entire night to unload my UHaul and then the day to load it back up and bring it all home.
But, Lord, this little lady is a champion list maker, a girl after her mother’s (and my) type A personality heart. Nothing like making a list, checking it twice, and crossing it all off as done!
Singing about Cooking 
OMG – I didn’t realize the list was actually this long. And that she requested ornaments to hang from the ceiling because we put the Christmas Tree away. She is definitely something else 🙂