Virtual Sleepovers? How do you pillow fight?

When you were a kid, was there anything quite as fun as a sleepover, or better yet a slumber party?

Now let’s set a few ground rules right away. I understand these are two very different experiences depending on if you are a boy or girl. For boys, it was more like a game of survivor where literally the last man standing would be the only one not to be drawn on with a marker, shaving creamed, or had their hand placed in warm water. It’s normal for pillow fights to draw blood…right…just me and my friends?

Nevertheless, the endless hours of fighting sleep, talking about girls, and outright fighting for life were priceless and I’d give anything to do it all over again. Heck, most of us would give anything to stay awake past 9 p.m. much less past midnight and beyond. My couch is a safe space from shaving cream.

Now, since I am a boy, I really have no idea what girl sleepovers consist of, but as teenage boys we assumed they were discussing us, boys, all night, doing makeup, and braiding each other’s hair. Oh, and New Kids on the Block and 90210…. right? (Our editor confirms this! And don’t forget the RomComs!)

Fast forward a few decades and I’m a dad of a tween who is experiencing her first few sleepovers. Let me tell you they are nothing like the old days. Like it has affected everyday life, work, play, and school, the internet is now part of sleepovers.

I had two girls physically at my house, but they were online with who knows how many of their volleyball and track teammates at different times in the evening, not to mention playing games online as well…at least until they fell asleep (more on that in a bit).

With social media, face timing, online gaming, and messenger services, what a great time to be a kid. Caution: old man reference forthcoming: In my day, you saw your friends at school and church, maybe an “in town” call in the evening and once summer hit, if you didn’t live within biking distance, you might not see some of your buddies all summer, even though they lived just on the other side of town.

This wasn’t a problem in the town I grew up in and live in today. Even if they weren’t technically in biking distance, what your mom didn’t know never hurt her. But if she ever found out….

So back to the slumber party, we went out to a Chinese buffet for dinner and as I do most Saturday nights, despite the extra activity between my daughter’s room and the family room downstairs, I was dozing off on the couch by 9ish.

Around 10, I gave it up, said my goodnights, and headed to bed expecting to be kept up all night by giggles and loud music. When I woke up the next morning I shuffled to the living room to watch the news and caffeinate, expecting to have a few minutes of peace and quiet before everyone woke up and I was pressed into breakfast duty.

Insert internet reference here: After only about 15 minutes of silent news, weather, and social media surfing on my wireless device, guess what? Two perfectly rested tweens ravenous like werewolves demanding pancakes, despite the empty bag of chips I found on the kitchen counter from the previous midnight snacks.

Turns out, they never even made it to midnight, and they were both asleep by 10:40 p.m. No wonder I slept through the night uninterrupted. Oh well, no big deal, there will be dozens of sleepovers to make up for it in their futures and I must admit the pancakes were pretty good for Dad too.

Although I do PR for an internet company, I’m compelled to mention one downside of connectivity with friends during a sleepover…. they can connect with boys too! But that’s a subject for another blog.