When your son wants a sleepover party

Birthday planning seems to start earlier and earlier. Months before Boy Two’s seventh birthday he was plotting. He was determined to have a sleepover.

We’d talked about where his friends would sleep, what DVDs they would watch, the snacks, the drinks and the pranks they would enact on Boy One. My dread mounted and I made my own plans: buy bubble wrap for the valuables, prepare a panic room under the stairs, stockpile gin.

Then he went to the slumber party of his schoolchum H. Off he set with his favourite PJs, his toothbrush, clean pants and Shabba the Bear (without whom, I’m told, sleep is impossible) in a small bag. He was soo excited.

The next morning at an unseemly 9.30 I’d been instructed to collect him. Wow. He didn’t even look like the same species as the boy I’d dropped off. Tired, bedraggled, pale, baggy eyed, sticky faced and very, very, very grumpy. 

“How was it?”

“Awesome,” and he slumped glassy-eyed and taciturn.

After that, though, the subject of the great birthday party sleepover was dropped. Suddenly, he’d rather take his friends to the cinema. Hurrah, pass the popcorn.

For Boy Two the sleepover didn’t live up to the hype. I’m sure he barely slept and, perhaps, found the different rhythms of another house too strange for comfort. However, your children might love it – I know H and the rest of the gang claim they had a blast.

Supernanny has some top tips:

• Get each child to bring a sleeping bag, PJs and any essential soft toys.
• Spell out the rules clearly and the consequences of breaking them.
• Be aware that scary movies might be OK for your child but they might not be so for his friends.
• Be clear about food – where and when it can be eaten.
• Take emergency numbers from parents.

If your child is a guest at someone else's sleepover, don’t plan a big night out, as you could easily find yourself rescuing a homesick son in the middle of the night. Final tip: follow the advice of H’s mum and get rid of the guests as early as you decently can in the morning – they may well be beastly.