The Fun at Gramma's House

What does red and green nail polish on my kitchen counters, candy sprinkles on the kitchen floor, and an over tired Gramma and Papa have in common? A pajama party at Gramma’s house of course!

It was our first ever over night with the grand kids at our house. We have stayed at the kids houses over night before but to have them at our house was a real treat. We have a scorpion problem in our neighborhood, and our house had an infestation of scorpions when we moved in. Scorpions are most active at night. It was not uncommon to find several scorpions a day in the house. One night we found eight in about 15 minutes. I thought I was going to lose my mind over those creepy things!  I have found them in kitchen drawers, under my dishwasher handle, in my dryer lint catcher, on the walls and ceilings as well as the usual dark places you might expect to find them. I have unknowingly showered with them and even had one crawl up my leg while I was sitting at my sewing machine. Yes, I have been stung, on my arm one night while I slept.  I am so thankful a child has never been stung! It took a few years to get that problem under control and we rarely see one now.

Everyone felt it would be ok to have the kids over night, so we had the five older girls come and stay. We started the night off with letting them just run around and have fun. They were so excited to be having a PJ party together. It was loud in my house, lots of screaming and giggling going on. Then dinner and then it was makeup time. One of them had seen an episode of Maxx and Ruby and the girls there had ‘make overs’.  They also brought nail polish……even though I had them stay in the kitchen trying to keep it all under control I still ended up with it on my counter. It came off though so no worries. Next time no nail polish I think.

Then they wanted to dance so I put a kid’s music cd in the player and let them get rid of more energy. Now it was time for ice cream and other sugary things.  After, I sent them to the bathroom to brush their teeth and we all crowded (except Papa, he was M.I.A. by then) into my big bed for a movie. The two smaller girls would later sleep in pac n plays I set up at the end of my bed. (no one would ever dream of sleeping on the floor here because of the scorpions) The plan was to move them to the pac n plays when they feel asleep. I realized that was not going to happen and eventually put them in the pac n plays and they were asleep in seconds! The older two stayed awake for a while full of giggles and wiggles but finally all were asleep and I got as comfortable as I could on the edge of the bed and slept too. Papa slept peacfully and uneventfully on the new bed we recently put in the playroom.

The party was fun and I do want to have one again; I learned a few things about PJ parties too. It won’t be noticed if you vacuum and mop before they kids come. Save yourself the effort because you will do it after they leave anyway.  Asking them to brush their teeth before going to bed can be premature as they may all decide they want another snack just after climbing under the covers and will need to brush again. Anything and everything is fodder for giggles and silliness with a girls PJ party.  The next day you will be very tired so plan for that and don't have to go to work like Papa and I did......waaaahh!!!!

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