Mom sleepovers are essential to your good health.  The concept sounded strange to me. Last week, a group of women writer friends and I planned to attend a convention in San Diego. It was proposed that we’d share rooms in order to cut costs.  We’d stay at the best hotel in the Gaslamp and split the bill. Jordan, Nori and Susanna enthusiastically agreed. I merely nodded, thinking that I’d rather sleep alone in a Motel 6 than share a room. Call me grouchy, but if I am going to leave my husband and kids for a weekend away part of the appeal is in having my own room. Privacy has become a rare commodity since marriage and motherhood.  Anyway, trying my best to be flexible, I went along with their plans.

We arrived in San Diego. The conference was inspiring. We went to a screening of The Help. Everyone cried. Then, off to a great dinner and drinks. After that, the time that I’d been dreading arrived… back to our shared hotel room. To make matters worse, another friend, Jenn, had joined the conference at the last moment and needed a place to sleep.

“Crash with Amy and me, “ Jordan said and ordered in a roll-away.

I feigned a polite smile.

So there I was with my three friends, all in our ridiculous pajamas: oversized t-shirts and boxer shorts. We brushed our teeth, washed our faces and then crawled into our respective beds. I can’t remember how it started or when it finally ended, but one of us started laughing. Suddenly we were hysterical.  Tears rolled down my face, my stomach hurt. A bad case of the giggles. The kind that would get you kicked out of class in high school. I hadn’t laughed that hard or that long for years.

Women’s Health magazine says that studies reveal “Laughter it turns out nearly rivals exercise when it comes to health benefits and brain boosting powers.” Guess what? I’m quitting the gym!

I awoke the next morning completely rested, relaxed and still smiling.

“When can we do this again?” I wanted to know.

A spa weekend was suggested and then quickly shot down. Too expensive. Consider the economy. All that was needed was a place to rest. Why not one of our houses? We’ll kick out the husbands, children, dogs and cats.  We’d bring: sleeping bags, pillows, and p.js. Wine would be optional.

Driving home, I decided that kids’ sleepovers are highly overrated and usually painful for everyone involved.  My children and my friends’ children come home grouchy and exhausted the next day. It can’t be good for their health. But Mom sleepovers on the other hand should be doctor recommended!