Pajama Party

For weeks Geneva has been begging for a slumber party. I don't know where she got the idea, exactly, but all of the classic slumber party elements were there: she would ask that Maya to come over and watch TV, eat cookies, and sleep in her bunk bed. And once I thought about it, I realized this was actually a really cool idea. Why not have a toddler sleepover? So, last night the Zoglmans were joined by Maya and her mama Ali for dinner, baking and a movie, followed by a (not so great) night's sleep and a pancake breakfast. It was chaos, and tons of fun.

Oh, those girls. I think sometimes that they relate to one another more like siblings than buddies. Geneva, for as much as she adores Maya, seeks every opportunity to push her buttons. I don't understand it, and it's something we're working on, but it does kind of make me laugh (you know, after I'm done being mortified that my kid just floored Maya with a mighty shove). It reminds me of the time my brother Jordan and I got into a fight that ended with him sitting on my head. There's no excuse for pushing, or head-sitting for that matter, but I wish I could explain to little Maya that somehow it all comes from a place of love. Meanwhile I'm trying my best to reign in my happy-go-lucky monster and longing for the day when Maya finally hauls off and shoves her back.

But like I said, last night was a lot of fun, and not the bloodbath that last paragraph may have led you to believe. Maya and Geneva ate their dinners from matching plates (and utterly neglected their matching forks), and Lavender even let me eat a hot meal, too! Afterward the girls very sweetly took turns dumping cookie ingredients into the mixing bowl, then settled in on the couch to watch what Geneva calls The Nice Monster and the Little Girl-- that's Monsters, Inc. to the rest of you. By 9:15 the kitchen was a disaster but the house was quiet. Honestly, the mess and the noise and the anxiety over Geneva's behavior were all worth it just to have my good friend and Geneva's sibling-buddy with us for the whole evening. I really would do it again tomorrow.