He's growing up! (sniff, sniff)

Nathan attended his first official sleepover last night.  He has slept over at his Grandparent's houses and at his cousin's house, but never outside the family.  His friend Charlie has 2 older brothers.  One of them was having a few friends sleepover for his birthday and his mom let Charlie and the oldest boy have one friend. Charlie picked Nathan.  They are in Cub Scouts together and are in the same class in school this year so they have become close, but Nathan had never been to his house before and we only knew the parents, mainly the Dad, from Cub Scouts...he's one of Nathan's  leaders. With much hesitation on my end, Norm and I decided to let him go if he want's to.  Nathan wanted to go and seemed excited at first, then was having second thoughts after a while.  Then he woke up that night, the night before the sleepover, having a nightmare about it and saying "I don't know if it will work!"  Poor thing!  He's getting so big and maturing, but he's still little in a lot of ways.  We explained to him that he certainly does not have to sleep there and if he decides he doesn't want to, we will go get him and Charlie and they can sleep over here.  So yesterday afternoon Nathan showed up at Charlie's house at 5:00 prepared for a sleepover with his sleeping bag, PJ's, toothbrush, and Mickey Mouse.  Charlie's Mom was very nice and showed Nathan around the house, where the bathroom was, and where they would sleep.  She understood that it was his first time and he needed to feel comfortable and she knew how I felt too (I had called and gave her a heads up about his worries), telling me to call and check up on him as often as I want and she won't hesitate to call me if he feels uncomfortable.  I left.  I was thinking it was likely that I would be seeing him later on, but to my surprise, when I called at 8:30, he was having a great time, and wanted to stay.  When I asked "Are you sure?" he said "yes, yes, yes. See you in the morning!" and then hung up.  Then I spent the night worrying, What if he wakes up and doesn't remember where he is and panics? What if he can't find the bathroom in the middle of the night?  What if the kids tease him for sleeping with his Mickey?  What if he does want to come home but he's too embarrassed to say so? What if he's doing something I don't approve of?  There were older boys there.  I guess it is uncool to leave a list of things he is not allowed to do.  He knows what he is not allowed to do and we had a talk before hand, but you never know what the rules are in other peoples houses.  10:30am couldn't come fast enough.  He was sleepy looking, but smiling when I picked him up. Turns out the worst thing that happened is that he didn't brush his teeth and he didn't go to sleep till very late. I guess that is expected at a sleepover.  He did much better then I expected...better then me!  So now we have our first sleepover behind us! A big step for Nathan, and me. I guess I needed to write this all down so I have a reminder when it is Kaitlyn's turn to go to a sleepover....Although she is a totally different child and will probably make herself at home wherever she is!

Nathan is napping now....first time in years.  Hopefully it will be a nice long one!