“Can I please spend the night at Gigi and Pop’s house?” Kiera asked using her best sugar sweet voice combined with big, puppy eyes. It was Friday afternoon and we had just arrived to pick up Kiera from her Pop and Gigi’s house.
I tried not to giggle as Aaron answered, “Not tonight, baby. How about tomorrow night?”
“Ok.” She replied begrudgingly. “I guess.”
Little did we know that making her wait to spend the night would make for the longest 24 hours of our lives.
Saturday morning, Kiera woke up bright and early. She was content to play and help around the house until about 11:00 a.m. Aaron and I had the bright idea that we would not take her over to her Gigi and Pop’s until later in the afternoon. She doesn’t usually spend the night away from us and we were having a little trouble with the idea.
Not that Gigi and Pop aren’t extremely trustworthy and loving, it was just the idea that she wouldn’t be cuddled up in her room where we could check on her.
Around 11:00, Kiera decided to begin packing her bag. She grabbed her pink camouflage, rolling bag and dragged it into her bedroom. “I’ll come help you pack in just a minute.” I said. Aaron and I had just sat down on the couch and I was fairly confident that she was not overly concerned with my help at that moment.“Mom, can I take these?” Kiera asked as she walked into the living room holding a pair of house shoes.
“Well, I guess so.” I replied.
She ran back to her room, returning only a brief moment later. “What about this?” She asked holding up a hair bow.
“How about I come help you?” I replied. I was not prepared for what would greet me.
I walked into Kiera’s room and sat down on her bed. Her pink camouflage bag was busting at the seams. “Umm… Honey, what did you pack?”
She excitedly opened her bag so I could peer inside. As I peeked in, I saw not one but two pairs of house shoes along with a pair of silver sparkle shoes that she quickly assured me were for exercise. I obviously did not know what all Gigi and Pop had planned.
Upon further inspection, I found a tiny, framed picture of her from when she was six months old, two activity books, and two pillows. Granted, they were smaller pillows but they were still stuffed in there. And nestled on top of all of these items, was a large wooden cross that she had made at Christmas last year. I have no idea what she planned to do with it.
“I have my monster in here.” She patted an outside pocket on the bag excitedly.
I honestly had no idea what to say. “Well, ok. Make sure it all comes back home. Yes ma’am?”
“Yes ma’am!” was the quick reply.
I stood up from the bed and headed to her closet. “Let’s pick you out a dress for church.”
After picking out her church dress, we had to pick out pajamas. I finally managed to talk her out of packing her winter pajamas and settling for a long t-shirt. After winning that battle, I let her win the next when she wanted her pajama top to be hung on a hangar instead of folded and put in her clothes bag.
And yes, I did say clothes bag. There was not any room in the pink camouflage bag for clothes once she was done with her packing and I had to locate an additional bag for her clothing.
“Baby, get a pair of panties out of your drawer.”
“I know which ones I want!” She said eagerly. “I want both of these!”
I glanced over to see her holding two pairs of panties. “But, you only need one pair…”
“I NEED both of these!” she pleaded.
By this time, it was time for nap and I was beginning to wonder if maybe she knew something I didn’t… like we were in for a sudden snowstorm and she was going to be stuck at Pop and Gigi’s for an extra day. “Ok. Toss them both in.”
I finished packing her play clothes and Kiera grabbed her dress shoes for church. As I closed the clothes bag, she picked up her Hello Kitty umbrella. “Can I take this?”
I didn’t even hesitate as I took it from her and fastened it onto her backpack.
“What about my rain boots?” She questioned as she ran behind her bedroom door, snagging her rain boots and plopping them on the bed beside me.
“No, honey. You don’t need your rain boots.” I picked up my phone and began typing a text to Gigi to warn her of the impending chaos that was going to hit her house that afternoon. As I typed, I became aware of Kiera singing beside me, except she was singing from the rain boots’ perspective.
“Please let us goooo, we will be good and we want to go with Kiera.” The rain boots danced around as Kiera made them sing.
I ducked my head to hide my smile. “Honey, if it rains I will bring you your rain boots.” I assured her.
Finally, we had everything and I mean, everything packed.
We settled down on her bed for a nap. I know she was tired. I had no doubts she was tired…but, she was also excited. It only took an hour for her to fall asleep.
When she woke up from her nap, she laid quietly for a few minutes before stretching her arms out from side to side and exclaiming, “First off, why am I still here and not at Gigi and Pop’s?!”
I love her excitement and even though packing two bags for an overnight stay with her grandparents who live a few blocks from us, might have been a tad overboard… I am ok with that.
She was happy to show everything off to them when she arrived and when we picked her up, it managed to make it all back home.
As of yesterday, she is already planning her next sleep over. I hope y’all are prepared, Gigi and Pop!
