Wow! We let our kids have their first sleepover at our house (they've had them at daycare and with our downstairs neighbors but never hosted one). The guests came Saturday after lunch and left today before lunch, so just about 22 hours.

We made it! We had a 6YO and a 7YO as well as our own 6YO and 4YO girls. (We tried to get a friend closer to the younger kid's age but the schedule just wasn't working out.) There was some exclusionary stuff going on with the older girls but our 4YO has an overall sunny disposition and didn't seem to notice for the most part. And they did play with her willingly, many times, so it wasn't too bad. And NT took her out for a couple hours of "special time" (playground and ice cream parlor) just to make sure the older girls got some time to themselves and SL got some extra attention.

Spending-wise it wasn't too terrible. $47 for pizza delivery and $11.59 for SL and NT's ice cream. Entertainment was hose/sprinkler outside, playing in the kids' rooms, movies on Netflix and DVD, blanket fort under the dining room table, and hide and seek. Food besides the pizza Saturday night was worked into the grocery budget; vegan rice krispie treats, various raw veggies, watermelon, cupcakes, pancakes, raspberries and strawberries.

After the guests left and we ate lunch, our kids had honest-to-god 2-hour-long naps. We actually had to wake them up because we'd planned a playdate with another friend's kid! Luckily it was at a playground about 4 blocks away. Needless to say though, I've had my fill of kid stuff for the time being!

My nerves felt frayed a few times during the sleepover, especially as it got later at night. (I'm sure my tone got sharp a couple times.) But our kids kept saying it was the best sleepover ever and their friends seemed happy. We sent them away with leftover pizza and treats and the girls gave them various little toys from their own belongings, and everyone seemed happy (especially the parents who got a free date night; I was happy to provide that because I know how rare they can be).

In some ways I know these will get easier as the kids get older. But I know in other ways the psychodrama gets more intense the older they get. Either way, I don't see hosting them very often but it was nice to give my kids a memorable night. And in the age of Facebook, I periodically posted photos and updates that the parents could see, because I know I love being able to see stuff about my kids when they're with someone else!

Come to think of it, it's been a spendy weekend kid-wise. I took AA to buy her first-day-of-school outfit at Target, and we ended up spending about $80. Everything was pretty reasonable--we got sneakers, flats, a dress (OK, a princess nightgown; it was what she wanted and I think it can pass for a dress!), a backpack and a hairband, and I think the sneakers were the most expensive at $27 or so. It just kind of adds up!

We've also got her supply list from the school and will have to do that big shopping trip in the next couple weeks. Again, it's nothing big but the little things will add up. I'm hoping AS gets a freelance payment soon so we don't go too far in the negative on our shared spending. My company is overdue on a small payment to her ($146) and she's got some bigger ones from them expected next week ($1100 and $500) that I'm hoping they'll send a bit early once they work out why that other payment is way late. Either way, if we go in the red a bit, we know it won't be for long!