My Not-So-Quiet Night

Both of the girls were supposed to babysit tonight. B and I were looking forward to a quiet night at home. We bought steaks to grill on the new grill and were going to watch the Olympics. We were talking about how our family life is reaching a new phase, where the girls have their own social lives and we'll be left on our own more and more. (Not that I'm complaining -- it's been 13+ long years since we've enjoyed that lifestyle!)

Then M's babysitting job was cancelled. Oh well ... No romantic evening, but still a quiet night at home. Then she went to the swim club ... Quiet night for just the two of us was back on! Then B got called to work, so he left to drive to Baltimore. Oh well. Quiet night with the house all to myself! Yipppeeee! I poured a glass of wine and settled in to finish reading my book (Loving Frank by Nancy Horan - I'm reviewing it as a potential candiate for my book club.)

Then it all fell to pieces. M called from the swim club and asked if "they" could come back to the house with her and watch a movie. Who is "they", I ask? Three girls and two boys ... FIVE friends. And two of them are boys. EEEK! I am not ready for this!

I laid down some ground rules - they have to stay downstairs in the family room. No coming up into my office/playroom to play Wii, or going into any bedrooms. No "purple" (boys=blue, girls=pink, contact between boy+girl=purple!)

So much for my quiet evening at home. I'm now banished to my room, although I will make occasional "passthroughs" to check on the scene. And I will keep a listening ear on the family room. If it gets toooo quiet, that's not a good sign either! Too bad we got rid of our baby monitor -- it would come in handy for eavesdropping right about now!

(The worst part is when L finds out that M had a little party get-together while she was babysitting. You'll be able to hear the outrage five states away!)

Update at 9:00 pm: Another friend is on her way.......

Mega Sleepover

The girls had three friends sleep over last night (for a total of five girls!) They call camped out in the family room, sleeping on the couch and air mattresses. They had a mega movie marathon, ate pizza and ice cream, and laughed well into the night. Actually, I was surprised -- they didn't stay up that late. I was envisioning it going on until the wee hours of the morning, but I think they were all asleep by 1:00 am.
These are fun times for middle schoolers. Well, until the girls all go home and I try to get M&L to clean up the family room! Then it won't be too much fun for any of us ...