Sleepovers are weird. I’ve never been a fan. I’ve had them, I went to them, but I never felt comfortable. Even when the person was my best friend, I just wanted to sleep in my own bed.
There are a few sleepovers I had as a kid that made me think. “What was I thinking?”. The one that sticks out in my head was one I had for my birthday. At some point during the night, I went upstairs and slept on the couch leaving my guests downstairs to fend for themselves. I was over it and wanted the night to end.
As I got older, I was able to tolerate them, but the novelty of them wore off. I think it’s because I wasn’t in the comfort of my own home, and I felt like it was wrong for people to be in my space. I wanted them to go home after a few hours. I was mentally tired from being with people and I needed to unwind before I went to bed. Sleepovers didn’t help with the mental restart.
I’ve wandered off at other people’s houses. I would get bored and go to another room. People didn’t seem to question it, or they just didn’t notice I left the room.
I know just being in the room with people who you hardly even know is challenging enough, but if you throw in a sleepover, it’s a whole another game. You have to go along with what other people want to do and if you don’t take part then they look at you like your crazy.
Sleepovers is something people do, doesn’t matter how old you are. You either like them or you don’t. I don’t know the actual reason why people would want to spend the night at someone else’s house. It’s a weird concept. Who decided it was a good idea?
One sleepover involved pranking calling a classmate at 3 o’clock and pretending to be the teacher. I got in trouble for that one. I wouldn’t have gotten caught if the mother didn’t call back. My friend who was with me, never told her parents until years later. I had to write a letter apologizing for the prank call and drop it off at her house. Pranks calls are a part of sleepovers. Everyone did them at the time.
That same friend who got away with the prank call would have these massive birthday parties where there would be LOTS of people. One year, half the people spent the night, me included. Some of us were in one room and the other half were in the living room and I remember that group being loud. I remember going out a couple times and telling them to keep it down. I think they kept being loud to annoy me.
There was this one guest who accused me of spraining her ankle in the middle of the night. I don’t know what happened. All I remember was I tripped over/stepped on something. I know that I was nowhere near her for me too physically hurt her. I was on one end of the room and she was on the other end. Whatever it was, she was just looking for someone to blame. I knew she didn’t like me. She had that vibe. You knew she didn’t get along with most people. Her entire family had that vibe. If I knew whatever it was that I trapped on or stepped on was her ankle, which I don’t think it was, I would have apologized, but I knew that it wasn’t me. She was just trying to make a scene.
I’m glad I’m at the age now where sleepovers aren’t really a thing. Unless you’ve been drinking, and you need to sleep it off before you drive home but doing it because you want to is something I won’t understand.
I knew that sleepovers were something I never liked, but it was something I did because I felt like I had to. It made me feel like I belonged. If I did them then maybe I would feel accepted, but over time when they started to get farther and farther apart, I felt relieved because I knew that I didn't have to pretend to be normal to fit in. I didn't need to put up a front until breakfast. It's a thing of the past.