Usually putting the kids to sleep in a strange place involves a lot of yelling, threats and panic.

Rose to Debby: David's kicking me!

David to Debby: I have to!

John to David: Stop rolling over on to your sister's side and settle down!

Debby to David: If you don't settle down, I'm going to give you Benadryl.

Debby to John: If they don't get to sleep soon, they are going to be complete wrecks tomorrow.

We had this entire scenario and more the first night. Add to that David falling out of bed and the drunk guys yelling in the middle of the night, and it was not a good start to the sleep issues. But, there were no ugly repercussions. The kids functioned just fine the next day.

We normally start their bedtime at 7:45. Since we weren't eating dinner until 7:00 that wasn't going to happen. But because all the other kids were around the same age, the party broke up around 8:15 anyway. So, bedtime was late, but not extraordinarily late.

We functioned fine because of the secret prize from sharing a room with the kids--extra sleep. Normally, John and I turn the light out at 11:15. That gives me 8 hours of sleep. But when we share a room with the kids, we have to turn the light out at 9:30 or earlier. I felt great the next day. I never needed my afternoon nap. This should be a life lesson, but it ain't going to happen.