Slight Change of Plans for the Sleep-Over

Always have a "plan B." And that's what I needed tonight when I got a phone call from L's mom, the mother of C's best friend L, who is coming tomorrow night with C for the Sleep-Over party.

I had planned a "Close to Midnight" tea party for the girls, complete with dress-up shawls, gloves, fans and tiaras. They would get to keep their tea cups, plus I had small beaded purses for both of them, with a $20 bill tucked inside of each for tomorrow's trip to the mall.

Unfortunately, L's mom told me that the whole family has to leave Clear Lake by 1:30 tomorrow, in order to drive up to The Woodlands to visit with friends who just arrived from Mexico. There's no way that I can get the girls out early enough for breakfast and a trip to the mall and be back here by 1:30. And how could I give C shopping money and not give to L.... and wouldn't L feel left out of the trip to the mall?

So.... plan B. I took the $20 out of the little beaded purses and replaced it with $1.75 in quarters, dimes, nickles, and pennies. Then I went through my party-favor boxes, as well as the box of Christmas favors that I'd put aside for C and her friends. I used stick-on tags to mark the items, with prices ranging from one-cent to fifteen cents. After our "Close to Midnight" tea party, the girls can have a "Close to Midnight" shopping spree-- right here.

I'll clear off the dining room table after we have our tea, then set up the items "for sale." I'll give the coin purses to the girls, along with the pretty shopping bags that I had found for them. Then they can "shop," filling up their shopping bags and "paying" for the items with the dimes, nickels, etc.

When I was getting all the shopping items together, I was amazed at what I found in the party boxes..... flag-shaped memo pads, nail polishes and decorated emory boards, eyelashes and fake nails for Halloween, heart-shaped soaps, star-shaped sticky-notes, fancy pencils and rulers, Mardi Gras dolls, and even those colorful fringed scarves that the teens are wearing. The dining room table will look like a display in a gift shop by the time I'm through with it tomorrow night.

I know that C will ask me for a "do-over" on this Sleep-Over party with L...... and we'll arrange that when we can, so we can all go out shopping to the mall together. But for this time, I'll take the girls out for a fancy breakfast in the morning and get back here in time for L's mom to pick her up for their drive up to The Woodlands. C and I can still spend the rest of the afternoon together, but we'll save going to the mall for when L can join us.