The Dilemma

It is 1 am and one of the guests has just left the party. We didn’t ask him to leave, nor was he physically ill, but he left nonetheless. He said that he was uncomfortable and that he was having trouble sleeping so we called his parents and his father came to get him.

Now I find that another boy has approached me to say that he is thinking about going home. I have encouraged him to try and sleep, but he is unsure if he can do so. As I speak with him two more boys approach me to say that they also cannot sleep. The other two don’t care about going home, they just want to stay up for as long as they can. I am concerned because I don’t want them up all night.

It is not because I am concerned about what the other parents might say. Anyone with an ounce of common sense knows that slumber parties are more about party and less about slumber. It is because I am concerned that they will wake the other boys and that creates a situation that I can’t have. At the same time I don’t want this other boy to leave. He has slept over here a million times and my son will be quite upset if he goes.

He isn’t acting scared. His voice doesn’t quiver when he speaks. I think that his issue is that he is overtired and that is why he is fighting to reach the magical land of nod. So I am drawing upon my best skills as a parent to counsel them and convince them that closing their eyes is the best thing to do. But the truth is that they are not buying into it. I get it, I am not their father, but I am the father of the birthday boy. And I don’t want that boy to be upset because kids left his party. It is not the end of the world, but it is not great.

And let us not forget that I am tired now. I want to get some shut eye. I want to close my eyes and sleep and they are preventing me. Not to mention that they will wake up early and cut my weekend slumber to a small nub.

I could solve this problem by letting the one kid go home. It would make it easier to focus on the other two, but there are the other aforementioned issues. And so I find myself facing a dilemma that irritates the hell out of me. It is too late for this crap and I have far too much to do besides this. Damn sleepover party. Good thing I love this kid.