Happy New Year, my friends!

Welcome to the third installment of my favorite posts to write this year! My list of Top 10 2019!

It’s been an action-packed, adventure-filled year here at Texas Over Fifty, with so many firsts and fun!

But …  what you’ll find in my list of Top 10 2019 is not so much what I saw as what I saw in someone. These were the true memory-makers of the past 365 days, and I’m so looking forward to sharing all of them with you.

Number 10 on the list was a story of what I saw in myself when starting over at Job #14 (or 15). While that experience was pretty monumental, Number 9 left gave me even more to think about.

And Number 8? Well, let’s just say that when my granddaughter is involved, the emotions are always going to run a little high.

Not hers.

Mine.

So, let’s jump right into the story.

Here’s #8 in my list of Top 10 2019.

Relaxed at a Birthday Party

Photo – The girls, my daughter and her friend after we all enjoyed birthday pizza for dinner.

“Hey, Mom,” my single-mom-daughter said. “I want you to come and help me with Kynzie’s birthday sleepover at the hotel, okay?”

“Oh, sure! I’ll be happy to,” I replied, with a small amount of hopefully-undetected-trepidation. “What do you need me to do?”

“Not much. We’ll divide the girls, and you sleep in one room while I sleep in the other. I want the moms to know they will all be okay with an adult in the room.”

Sleepovers are Different Now

When I was my granddaughter’s age, sleepovers were my J-A-M. We had them all.the.time.

And it took very little effort to get things organized, up and running.

Just call a few friends, decide who was bringing the bean dip, and voila! Done. Party planned.

But sleepovers are different now.

We Brought Sleeping Bags 

The middle school sleepover of today has absolutely nothing to do with the sleeping bag of yesteryear.

These girls plan on packing all their besties into the same king-size hotel bed, while the best we could hope for was flinging a quilted rectangle onto a section of plush shag carpet on our friend’s living room floor.

My sleeping bag was always rolled and ready, sitting in the corner of my closet, poised for impromptu grab and go. I still remember the big yellow daisies on the fabric of the bag and its matching sack.

That matching sack was really the bomb, too. There was a rope sewn into the casing, and you could easily cinch up the rope to decrease the size of the bag’s opening. That kept the bag rolled tight, and you could stuff hairbrushes, pj’s and toiletries into the rings of the rolled bag.

So cool.

I Was a Little Nervous

If my daughter had asked me to come to her house to help with the party, I would have known how this thing was going to go down.

But when she said we were splitting up into two hotel rooms, I could instantly envision myself, the aged grandmother, lasting till maybe 11:30 with the girls in my designated room, falling dead asleep, waking only after my mouth had been filled with cheese from a spray can.

Girls Are More Mature Now

I think it would have been fun to have all of our sleepovers at a hotel back in the day, but that would never have flown for at least three reasons.

One, hotels were for tourists. Vacationers. Maybe a family whose house had flooded. Not middle schoolers having a birthday party.

Two, we just flat weren’t mature enough to have been afforded that kind of high-falooting opportunity.

Third, we needed a freezer to store all the wet unmentionables taken from the bags of those who feel asleep too soon.

But, hotel sleepovers are big deals now, and girls are way more mature.

These Girls Amazed Me

As it turned out, all the girls wanted to sleep in the same room, so my daughter took the responsibility for staying awake and monitoring for any antics.

But the whole party went off without a hitch.

While I relaxed in my comfy bed, the girls were talking about life, listening to music and making crafts.

Do you know what I thought that was? Ah-mazing.

One Thing I Didn’t Mention 

Well, I told you about my own experience with middle school sleepovers, and I told you how amazed I was at the maturity of my granddaughter and her friends, but I didn’t mention all the sleepover experiences I enjoyed with my own two daughters.

Hmmmm. Maybe that’s because I still have a few jitters.

Maybe it’s easier to relax when you’re the Grammie and not the mom.

Your Turn

I hope #8 of Top 10 2019 has made you smile with memories of your own. So, it’s your turn to talk.

Did you have a favorite sleeping bag? Have you helped out with a grandkid sleepover? Do you still love bean dip and Fritos??

Great! I’d love to hear, so feel free to leave a comment below.

Encouraging a life filled with everyday intentional adventure and a chance to be amazed at the maturity of your grandkids,

Here are a few other posts you might enjoy:

Top 10 2019 – #10

Top 10 2019 – #9

Complete List of 66 Bible Verses to Memorize With Your Grandkids