Yaya had her first friend-sleep-over

Last Saturday Yaya went to her dancing class as usual with daddy. But before the class was over, I got a call "Rachel's family will come over." Well, Yaya had been begging and requiring all week for it to happen. So, a little bit after 12:30pm, they were all here. Ever since lunch, those two little girls dissappered. They obviously were having so much fun with each other that it took several hours for Rachel's parents to finally give up persuading Rachel to go home and agree to stay for dinner. When dinner was over, the kids had another couple of hours playing. Then it came close to 8pm, and Peter was ready to go to bed. But still, Rachel refused to answer her mom's call to go home. Yaya seemed so happy that she bent down and whispered something in her friend's ear,

Rachel's mom: Come on, time to go home, You can play with Yaya next weekend, OK?
Rachel: Eh.. No,...(with her mouth stuck up showing her dissatisfaction)
Me: Rachel, do you want to stay at our house and sleep with Yaya, so tomorrow you can play again?
Rachel's mom: Do you want to sleep over?(Her mom shook her head to me, guess she was thinking that this would make her daughter go with her, based on her previous experience)

Within seconds, we heard "Y-E-A-H!" and saw two girls jumping up and down on their feet, then we knew the answer.

Rachel's parents left, with two unpeaceful hearts---"if she has any problem, call us anytime,OK?" Her mom kept telling me. I can understand how hard it must have been for a 4-yr-old's mom to let go.

Then, bathing, brushing, reading, everything went perfectly well. Just as I was prepared that Rachel might make a fuss about lying down and going to sleep, I heard the little girl said "come on Yaya, let's go to sleep!" Yaya replied "OK!" Then the light went off and within one minute, they were both out.

I was truly amazed. So was Rachel's mom when I called up on her.

Unfortunately, as Rachel's mom had warned me earlier, she could not sleep very well after a long, tiring day---a lot of bad dreams, kicking, crying in her sleep, plus coughing. I tried the humidifier, different blankets to help her feel better, but still we had a rough night. At around 2am, Yaya was woken up by her dear friend's cry too, she came over to me and whispered "mommy, maybe you should ask her whether she is missing her mommy." "Thanks, sweet girl, she is not awake and she is not really crying.." I told her. Yaya stayed awake for another hour.

By 7am in the morning, Rachel was awoke from another round of her kicking and crying. First thing I was told "I want my mommy", which I completely understood. I held her out to the living room, followed by my Yaya, who obviously cared about her friend's feeling and got up. But once I got the phone, she changed her mind, "no, I don't want to go home." "Are you sure?" "yes".

Those two began to talk, giggle again and the bad dreams were all gone.

Before lunch, Rachel's daddy came over. This time, she did not have any problem going home. After all, she was so tired and really could use a long nap.

I am so proud of this little girl. At the same time, I feel so lucky and grateful that both my kids eat well and sleep with no much problem.