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Hi listeners, I'm Margot Seibert and I have a story I want to tell you.

A story of a sleepover filled with nightmares.

So, gather round and listen.

Close.

Am I the asshole for not letting my pre-team daughter go to a sleepover?

She's never been allowed to spend the night away from home, but she's never really

objected to the rule until recently, when she was invited to her best friend's

13th birthday slumber party. Now she's furious at me and calling me over

protective. I know it seems unfair and I hate being the strict mom,

but sleepovers are where I draw the line.

I guess to really understand where I'm coming from, you're going to need the whole story,

and that means time traveling all the way back to 1999.

It was the summer before seventh grade and there was a new girl on the block, Amelia.

She and her parents had just moved into the neighborhood. A few houses down in a

huge French style cottage, which I always called my dream house.

Honestly, that home needed its own two-page spread in better homes and gardens.

A friendly pale green door and matching shutters, cream colored exterior,

and decorated with spurts of ivy to show that it all had stood the test of time.

It was a masterpiece, and I was more than a bit jealous to learn this new girl

got it first. So, that summer, I made it my mission to befriend her.

...