I don't know how it is at your house, but at mine summertime means that the sleepover requests (which I think are frequent anyway) really ramp up.
And you'd think it would be the girls. But it isn't.
It's my youngest son.
So the conversation went something like this:
Three days ago
Him: If I do some stuff around the house first (they CAN be taught!) can I have some friends spend the night on Friday.
Me: Let's talk about that the closer it gets to Friday.
Today:
Him: What do you need me to do around the house so I can have some friends over tonight?
(They are amazingly helpful when there's something in it for them. :o) )
Me: (Quickly calculating the number of stinky feet and unshowered bodies I'm willing to have in my basement at one time and the amount of $$ in the budget I'm willing to spend on Mountain Dew, Pringles, and Sour Gummy Worms) How many friends are we talking about here?
Him: How many can I have? 4? 5?
Me: Uhh. How about 3?
Him: 4?
Me: 2?
Him: 4?
(Usually this strategy works in my favor. I bargain down, and then what I suggested in the first place doesn't seem so bad. Apparently I'm losing my touch.)
Me (still trying): 1?
Him (grinning): 4?
Me (sensing a difficult victory this time): Who are you wanting to have over exactly?
Him: Kid I've known my entire life, Kid I've known as long as I can remember, Kid I spend as many waking hours as I possibly can with, and New Kid.
(Older son enters. Subject gets changed. I get up to leave.)
Him: So just 3?
Me: If I just let you have 3, who doesn't get invited? New Kid?
Him: Probably.
Me (admitting defeat): Okay. 4.
Sometime, in the not so distant future, New Kid is gonna be my kid. I hope sleepover negotiations in the Inland Empire go the exact same way this one did.
And you'd think it would be the girls. But it isn't.
It's my youngest son.
So the conversation went something like this:
Three days ago
Him: If I do some stuff around the house first (they CAN be taught!) can I have some friends spend the night on Friday.
Me: Let's talk about that the closer it gets to Friday.
Today:
Him: What do you need me to do around the house so I can have some friends over tonight?
(They are amazingly helpful when there's something in it for them. :o) )
Me: (Quickly calculating the number of stinky feet and unshowered bodies I'm willing to have in my basement at one time and the amount of $$ in the budget I'm willing to spend on Mountain Dew, Pringles, and Sour Gummy Worms) How many friends are we talking about here?
Him: How many can I have? 4? 5?
Me: Uhh. How about 3?
Him: 4?
Me: 2?
Him: 4?
(Usually this strategy works in my favor. I bargain down, and then what I suggested in the first place doesn't seem so bad. Apparently I'm losing my touch.)
Me (still trying): 1?
Him (grinning): 4?
Me (sensing a difficult victory this time): Who are you wanting to have over exactly?
Him: Kid I've known my entire life, Kid I've known as long as I can remember, Kid I spend as many waking hours as I possibly can with, and New Kid.
(Older son enters. Subject gets changed. I get up to leave.)
Him: So just 3?
Me: If I just let you have 3, who doesn't get invited? New Kid?
Him: Probably.
Me (admitting defeat): Okay. 4.
Sometime, in the not so distant future, New Kid is gonna be my kid. I hope sleepover negotiations in the Inland Empire go the exact same way this one did.
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