jj sleepover, new territory

jj went to her sleepover party. p and i went out. we met some french friends that we knew in san francisco. we just went to have a drink over in the montparnasse area – at the dome. great ambiance there, watching all the people go by on a saturday eve. we got a call at 8:30 from jj who said that they were invited to go to the champs elysees to meet some other friends. she needed our permission to go. the hosting mom said she needed a text from every mom saying it was ok, and “all the other moms have said it’s ok”. that line in itself should have made me say “no”. p said he thought it was fine, that there were lots of people walking around the champs elysee on a saturday night. so we said ok. i told her she should text us when she was back home. then at 9:30 we got a text saying that she was going now and would be back by midnight. “whoa, wait a second”. we thought she was going right up and would be back by 11 or so. we hadn’t asked. i was thrown off by the change of plans. i didn’t like the idea of her wandering around the street and then heading back, a pack of girls, so late. the sleepover was at the edge of town. we called her up. i said

“we thought you were going at the time that you called. now it is 9:30 by the time you get there it will be 10. we don’t want you wandering around the street so late at night. you can hang out for one hour, but then you get yourself back on the metro heading home by 11. you text us at 11 that you are on the train. if you’re not, i’m coming up there to get you”. the whole thing upset me. this will be a whole new year, with even more independence. it is relatively safe in paris, but it IS a big city. we will need to have a chat when she gets back. we need to set down some rules.

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