End of Year Class Parties - a Conundrum

It is the end of the school year here and many of us are entering a time of deep exhaustion. Between recitals and end-of-year parties and K/5/8/12 graduations and awards ceremonies and teacher gifts and (fill-in-the-blank), my calendar looks like an engineering schematic. When you have school-aged children and follow a traditional school calendar of some sort, January is meaningless as the beginning of a "new year". It is August when the new year begins. It is June when the year ends. July is overheated month of desperate vacations and summer "plans" that provide fodder for August conversations. As a teacher, this has been my annual rhythm every year since I was 5, and at my now advanced age seems natural.

What doesn't seem natural AT ALL is the new "normal" of the end-of-year class party. I offer Exhibit A:

The teacher gift for my child's kindergarten teacher

Above is the teacher gift I put together for my child's kindergarten teacher, ripped from the ideas posted on Pinterest and modified for my own lack of craftability. Please do not misunderstand. No one forced me to do this! In fact, I volunteered to create the class gift presentation. I also believe teachers deserve gifts and praise and money (although as a high school teacher I seldom found any money-wrapped crayons coming my way - lol). But why does my generation feel the pressure to do these things on such an extravagant scale? Wouldn't we honor teachers more by spending that time and energy petitioning for REAL pay increases or volunteering to do lunch duty through the year so she or he can actually eat a meal or organizing a classroom "slush fund" so he or she doesn't have to spend the pitiful amount of money received buying things that the school SHOULD provide but it underbudgeted to offer (because, FYI, that money was earmarked by our legislature for technology or test prep or whatever trend du jour is making the rounds - don't even get me started)? I don't begrudge teachers the chance to have a well-deserved cash bonus from the parents, but think there are better (or perhaps just additional) ways to offer support.

And why are parents at the class parties? We stand around awkwardly, watching our children make one last craft and taking pictures like a crazy person, and I feel like 80% of us are wondering WHY we had to take a morning off work/gym/housecleaning/etc to come and watch our child at a party at school. I will happily send in the snacks. I will happily provide craft materials. But I strongly feel like the LAST thing my child needs is me there staring at her/him while she/he plays freeze dance. I am happy my child GETS to do these things. I just don't think the enjoyment is multiplied at all by my mad observation skills. And while I think that communities need to become MORE engaged and PRESENT in the schools, waiting until the end of the year or running into school for a 20 minute snack/craft/music sprint seems like a largely superficial form of "involvement". Current laws and policies prevent easy involvement in the class on other days. The standardized curriculum leaves little to no time for an hour or more a week where a parent could come and read to the class or lead a craft while the teacher answers emails and breathes deeply. We are barely allowed to know the names of the children in the class, much less become a community, due to FERPA and security policies and all of the things that are done to PROTECT our children. I vote we let parents stay home from the parties and instead we have a class photographer who can share these precious images with us. And I also vote we lower the bar for these parties about one million degrees. It is a kid party in an elementary school. Time for a reality check (and I say this as one of the people who decided the kids should really make snowmen out of marshmallows and icing for the snack in the winter party).

Is it summer yet? :)
 

So Grateful for Pinterest!

I am grateful for many, many things in this world. Social media is always a sticky subject. So much social media highlights things that each of us are great at doing (which is WONDERFUL) but leaves me feeling like a failure when I am not at least making strong efforts in ALL of those areas! So I try to stay away from venues like Facebook where I can scroll for hours and realize how far away from "winning" I really am and stick to social media that leaves me feeling a little more empowered. Enter PINTEREST.

On our way to a competition! I cannot tell you how happy she is to wear lipstick (GASP!) OUTSIDE! I look like a hot mess

because I just spent approximately one hour trying to figure out how to apply that lipstick (and get that hair in place) while discouraging my 4 year old from helping. Who has time to do the adult's hair and make-up? NOT ME!

Many people hate Pinterest. And I get that. I do! You can look at all the great stuff and think, "I NEED to be making wreathes out of my children's cherished onesies - why didn't I do that?" But what I love is that I can just hop onto the magnifying glass and only see entries about what I WANT to pursue (mostly). It serves as great inspiration (sometimes). :) And when I have a Pinterest "fail", it gives me lots of opportunity to laugh and laugh and laugh.

Recently, I am grateful for the girl hairstyle search on Pinterest. My eldest is a dancer. She needs to wear her up at least 3 (and often more) days a week. I needed ideas because she was starting to give me THAT LOOK. The look that says, "I am not going to complain about wearing this simple bun because I don't want you to feel badly, but I REALLY wish my hair could be a little more." I am not imagining this look, I promise. And when you can tell what she is thinking, and appreciate that she is kind enough not to put it out there for you to hear, it combines to form a powerful motivation. Again, enter Pinterest!

Long story short, today I did an upside down French braid into a bun! It didn't look exactly like the picture (not even close) but I felt great about making some steps in the right direction. And she LOVED it! :) Hooray, Pinterest!!! And bobby pins! And foam bun makers! :)

The Fresh Start of Summer! Sugar Free and Likely Losing My Mind

Wow - it has been so long! As a teacher, summer OFTEN allows me a spare minute or so (even though teachers do NOT get the summer off, as many think - it is a forced, unpaid furlough through which I often work to try to keep pace with the 10 months I DO get paid that I nevertheless love) and I found myself here, writing to myself! :)

Today marks the beginning of summer (mostly) for me because my current school term ended. I have a short break (with several things to wrap up, but still a break!) for the next couple of weeks before summer classes being. As a teacher, I have never NOT been on a school schedule (since my fifth year of life, anyway). Each summer marks a new beginning - a chance to reflect and redirect. I find that instead of NEW YEAR'S resolutions, I make SUMMER resolutions. And my first was to return to the discipline of daily writing. I am at the computer for my current iteration of teaching each and every day, so sitting at the computer over the summer was, at first, not appealing. (How much MORE sedentary can I get in a day!) But a change in policy at my current work led me back to the computer for the summer and so, why not? :) I will just have to do a few million jumping jacks to prevent DVT each day!

My three and one I claim as my own but who actually goes home with other parents. I think they heard about my summer plans here. :)

My second summer resolution was to go device-free as a family, with a few rare exceptions built in for birthdays or sick days and occasional video-making madness as part of an art project, etc. My expectation is that there will be much screaming and protests from a certain 4-year-old who is addicted to MLP videos on Kid's YouTube and from a certain 6-year-old who thinks Minecraft is the only reasonable afternoon activity if it is at ALL hot or at ALL cold outside. Bless.

Maybe they are plotting to save the devices from isolation?

My third summer resolution was to eliminate all added sugar. I am late to this bandwagon, but I have been doing some research (and by that I mean reading what other people researched and watching YouTube videos that seem less crazy and binge-watching documentaries on Netflix!) and have become convinced, at least temporarily, of the potential health benefits for my family. For the summer, I am limiting sugar to "natural" sugars in non-GMO foods or sparing amounts of natural sugar sources such as honey and maple syrup (no more than 12 grams a day of the sugar sources). In the fall, we will evaluate the results, and my current state of sanity. It is all about cost-benefit here!

I have heard the initial period of sugar-free will be brutal, and I believe it! My children have a love for sugar that cannot be denied, and so do I. How then will we prepare for the transition? Great question! I have no idea. I had some idea of a sugar-free pep rally, but then thought perhaps a sneak attack would be better. Perhaps a contest? Or maybe bribery? Some combination? I think it will be a lot like convincing my children that sleeping through the night is wonderful - a lot of initial complaints, some crying from all involved parties, and eventual mixed results. Fun, right?

I will update, update, update! I even bookmarked this on my favorites bar so I wouldn't forget!