Sleepovers

G has been sleeping over at her friends' houses since she was 3. The first time she was a bit nervous, but she still stayed the entire night. She loves going over to her friends' houses, but what she loves even more is having her friends come over to HER house.

Today she cleaned for two hours, making sure her bedroom was perfect and the basement playroom was picked up in preparation for her BFF to come stay the night. She has stayed over at her BFF's house 3 times now or so, and so now it was her turn. I took the girls out to a movie (just us girls, no baby, no Little Guy) that they chose - The Fabulous Mister Fox. I bought them each a kid popcorn, soda and candy pack (a special treat for G). After the movie, we went to Trader Joe's to pick out food for dinner and to search for the hidden chicken. Much to their delight the girls found the chicken hidden among the dog food and were able to get treats from the treasure chest.

We came back home and I fixed them the apples and macaroni and cheese that they had chosen for dinner. They ran upstairs and got in their PJs, then played on the Wii and in Little Guy's Bilibo toy, and just generally ran amok until 8:30 when it was time to retire.

I pulled out the sleeping bags and moved Little Guy to the guest room so the girls could have some privacy. I got everyone water and tucked them in... BFF decided to sleep in G's bed instead of camping out, so G went to sleep on Little Guy's bed - something she would NEVER consider doing for anyone else.
A few minutes later G came downstairs asking if BFF could use the phone to call her dad. I said "Of Course" and it wasn't until G came downstairs bawling that I realized the call placed wasn't simply a goodnight call. BFF wanted to go home.

G was devastated. This is the 2nd time a friend has bailed on her at bedtime. Always at bedtime. Time for bed! I want to go home. Ugh. G's feelings were so hurt - Why doesn't anyone want to stay with me? she cried Why won't they stay?

I almost started crying with her... that feeling of rejection is painful no matter what age you are - but at six you can't even begin step out of yourself to see the other side of the story. Maybe BFF really did have a headache. Maybe she was just scared. Maybe she really wasn't having fun (though it seemed like she was)... I don't know.

I remember being a kid and I never skipped out on a sleepover - except that one time when I ended up with a raging fever at 2 am. I was eight. G is just like me in that respect - too afraid of hurting the host's feelings to leave, even if she wanted to.

So I just don't get it - and worse - I don't know WHAT to tell G to make her feel better... except we can try again another time... another time that will be filled with the fear of another bailout.