Out Numbered

Tonight, I took on the brave task of having a slumber party at my house. In my almost 26 years of life, I have never had a group of children...boys for that matter... sleep over at my home. It was all new to me.

When I agreed to have my 10 year old nephew Brendan (Bryan's brothers son) spend the night I have to admit that I really had no idea what we were going to do... or how I was going to keep him entertained. I felt like I had a lot of pressure to try to make his time at my house fun. After all, I wanted him to want to come back! I wanted him to think of me as the "cool" aunt... not the "lame" one.


Bryan loved Brendan. He loved Brendan A LOT. Brendan was his little partner... his wrestling buddy... his friend. Whenever Brendan would come visit for the weekend, Bryan would always go out of his way to make his time with him fun... full of laughter and goofiness. Bryan would act silly and wrestle with Brendan... he would make goofy faces and say silly things... he would give him junk food and let him push his boundaries... he would let him be a crazy little boy. Although I am not as fun as Bryan and can't wrestle with a 56 pound ten year old... I figured that I could win him over with junk food and a later bed time.

When Brendan first showed up, I made sure to show him around and tell him that he could help himself to whatever he wanted/needed. Being the "cool" aunt that I am... I of course showed him right where my snack drawer was and let him know that while he was at my house he could eat all the junk food that he wanted. At first, Brendan looked at me kind of funny and said, "My dad doesn't let me have candy at night." I just said... "Well, I told your dad that I was going to give you sugar and let you stay up late, so don't worry bud, I will take the blame if you get in trouble." After our conversation, Brendan went in for the Oreo's and M&M's with a huge smile on his face. If the candy didn't make me "cool" in his eyes, I knew that the pizza and movies that I had planned for the evening would. So, at 6pm we put in Space Monkey's and Over the Hedge and ate pizza in my living room. Brendan was shocked... and amazed. I could tell in his eyes that he felt rebellious... like he was living on the edge.

My plan was successful and halfway into the first movie Brendan looked at me and said "You are like the world's coolest mom... even though you are not my mom."

YES! I had officially won him over. I was "cool".


Not only did Brendan spend the night, but my 15 year old brother also joined in on our slumber party fun. Ever since Bryan passed away, Alec has tried to step in and spend more time with Owen. Although he knows that he can not take Bryan's place... he wants to be able to become a stand up man and tell Owen all about his amazing father. Whenever Alec spends the night it is always evident how much he loves his little nephew. He spends most of the night reading him books, giving him a bath, feeding him food (not always the healthiest things) and giving him hugs. It was fun to see Alec, Brendan and Owen play together. Even though they are not close in age, they all know how to be kids and have a good time.

At 10 pm when everyone was in bed, the lights were turned off, the doors were locked and the tv's were shut off... I realized that I had actually survived the night... I have survived my first boy slumber party. Even though I was out numbered and surrounded by lots of testosterone... I think I succeeded and made everyone happy. Owen got to follow around Brendan like his shadow and copy his every move, Brendan got to eat junk food and stay up late and Alec got to be a "grown up" and help out. All in all... it was a good night.