Like many Caribbean American parents, we haven’t really embraced the American version of the sleepover or slumber party.
How many times have you asked if you could sleep over at so and so’s house only to have a parent say:
- Sleep over WHERE? *steups*
- Don’t you see them enough at school?
- Why do you have to stay to SLEEP? You can sleep in that bed I paid good money for.
- I don’t know them people or their people’s people.
When the schools closed, my daughter and her friends from school started having these really amazing game nights and cooking together online. Eventually, it got too cold for their socially distanced outdoor hangouts (because Chicago) but they managed to figure out how to stay connected and talk regularly.
Some of you may know my daughter Eden. Recently, she had this idea for a virtual sleepover and started planning a fun night for her and her friends so she hosted a virtual sleepover. They played games, watched movie trailers, ate snacks, cooked, did their nails, and all of the things that go along with slumber parties… just virtually.
Eden has written a guide to hosting the ultimate virtual slumber party on her blog, so if you want to host your own sleepover for your kids and their friends, check it out here.
Of course, not everyone she knows and loves could attend, but she streamed the event on her YouTube channel, so everyone was invited. Since her YouTube channel is set for kids, people cannot interact with her and her people directly, but she shared the questions from their little girl talk Q&A for people to answer and follow along on Instagram. Your kids can watch and follow along with the replay whenever they want!
To join the virtual sleepover, click here – THE LEMONERDY VIRTUAL SLEEPOVER
We had sleepovers growing up, but only at our house. We couldn’t sleep over at anyone else’s house unless it was family – and I had two cousins in New York. We were in South Carolina. So, no sleepovers. The cool thing about virtual sleepovers, is that everyone from anywhere can participate. If we had zoom 30 years ago, I could have had some epic sleepovers with my cousins!
I thought I might be different with my kids, but it wasn’t so. They could stay for the party part, but the slumber? Nah – we’ll be outside to pick you up so that you can rest your head on that pillow, in that bed, and under those covers… that I paid good money for. Virtual slumber party – when the party part is over, they go on to sleep in their own beds, having had a blast.
And the parents of my kids’ friends? Perfectly lovely people, but something inside of me still wants my kids to be under the same roof as me when we close our eyes. The kids have had some epic sleepovers at our house and at their cousins’ house. Those nights when they would stay at their cousins’ house have given my husband and me much needed time to watch movies and hang out like grown-ups, and my cousins have been able to go out of town and not worry about the kids. Virtual sleepovers don’t help with that part because we still have to be there to supervise cooking and all that, but they definitely aren’t paying me no mind, as long as me and the husband watching a movie doesn’t slow down their connection.
When the pandemic is finally under control, maybe I can revisit the whole slumber party thing. My kids have made great friends, and their parents are awesome. I still think I might find myself giving the standard Caribbean American parent answer/question though – “And what is wrong with YOUR bed? *That I paid good money for*
