Hanna’s first sleepover was a huge success. In part because it was at someone else’s house so I heard only about the fun, the excitement, the cool bedroom, the candy and the late night movie watching all while I was nestled in a twin sized bed next to my own sleepover buddy, five year old Ellie.

We knew we would have some hurt feelings if our oldest was embarking on this sugar-walking-zombie rite of passage so to ease Ellie into it, we allowed her to choose a family movie (Daddy Daycare), she was permitted to shower with a shower cap on (highly coveted head gear “feels like a hot rain storm on my dry head Mom!!!!”) and one treat from her Halloween bag. This topped with Mommy in the twin bed next to her had the makings of a great night for Ellie who quickly forgot all about her sister’s special time away with a friend.

I had forgotten that my promise to sleep next to Ellie would also involve going to bed at 8:00pm on a Saturday night which secretly, I was more than okay with. Not before of course I emailed Hanna’s host mother to explain we were settling in for our Saturday night ritual of unplugging all of our phones. (Good luck calling us to pick someone up in the middle of the night).

We did hear in the morning, after two zonked girls finally caved, with resistance, passed out at 1am.  Their host parents awoke to an alarm clock blaring in the girl’s room at 2:30am. Both girls, far too tired to stir slept soundly through it. The host mother had to come into the room and tear the alarm clock from the wall after several attempts to shut it off. I’m sure the girls saw this as the perfect opportunity to wake up and apply more make-up or catch another movie.

I wondered what Ellie might want to talk about, how long we would stay up during our camp out, if there would be an extra book to read or some deep conversation about human hair and why it grows where it does.

Ellie quietly whispered to me, “Mom, let’s both dream that we’re swimming in a pool filled with chocolate milk. The floaties will be made of red licorice because I know you don’t like black licorice, the diving board will be a huge, fluffy marshmallow with cotton candy floating all around. You can drink the pool water because it’s chocolate milk.”

And then, before rolling over and falling instantly to sleep, she said the one thing that made it my best sleepover to date.

“Meet you there Mom.”