A sleep over, of sorts

Yesterday, Alison invited her cousin to sleep over.  I never know whether they are going to get along or fight like cats and dogs.  Unfortunately, cats and dogs it was.  The bickering and whining I can handle – time outs work great for that.  But another child hitting my girl, repeatedly, even after punishments, is unacceptable.  In fact, I think five years of age is a little old for random hitting.  So I packed up the car and took Alison’s cousin home. 

Alison was devastated, of course.  Even if she’s getting beat up on, she still loves her cousin and wanted a sleep over.  I explained to her that since her cousin hasn’t learned elsewhere that hitting isn’t OK, it was our job to teach her.  My girl was heartbroken, so I made a compromise with her.  We could have a sleep over, instead.

After Blythe went to bed we did all kinds of sleep over things.  We watched a movie and ate cashews in our jammies.  I said, “Hey, keep your feet out of Daddy’s nuts,” something I never thought I’d hear myself say.  We made a bed on her bedroom floor and snuggled up together.