the parties

I am very happy that my first go round of classroom parties is over. The morning class went by in a flash and the kids were really good. The party was under control and I felt silly for even worrying about things getting crazy.

The afternoon..different story.

It's funny too, because usually I feel like my PM class has better behavior than the morning group. And, this year my PM class is super small (usually 18, but two were absent today). Yet, for whatever reason, the afternoon party drained me and I was pretty happy to put all my little creatures on the bus and wave goodbye. We did almost the same activities, except the PM class got to make a pumpkin project and the AM class didn't. I realized that trying to do any activity that requires the kiddos to stop and attend to directions during a party makes the activity feel a lot more taxing and stressful. Also, four of the moms who came to help brought siblings, which in my mind makes more work and doesn't necessarily take any of the work off my plate. Luckily, I had extra materials so the 3-4 year old siblings made the pumpkin too. Then there were two toddlers whose moms basically followed them around doing damage control of all the stuff in the classroom they were trying to destroy touch. I love it when parents come to help, but it was clear by the different between the morning and afternoon that when parents bring additional children it just adds to the chaos a bit. I felt like the PM class didn't stop talking the entire time. They weren't bad by any means, but it was just noisy and too much for me.

Anyway, I know both classes had fun and I hope that tomorrow we get back to normal and good listening! I had one little boy who announced upon receiving his snack plate with apples and goldfish that he was allergic to the fish. I told him not to eat them to which he responded by eating every single one. I have spoken with his parents about his allergies and it's not anything that will truly make him sick, but come on buddy...seriously! I am really tempted to forego all snack situations because of how many kids have allergies. I am so afraid of feeding kids food they shouldn't be eating, but I can't keep track of all the different dairy, wheat, gluten, etc. allergies. I ask parents to supply individual snacks for events like today and one mom did, but the other child (who was chowing down on the goldfish) said he didn't have his own snack. ::sigh::

I dressed up as a black cat (lame, but I could not find a single costume at the Halloween store that didn't look seriously skimpy and inappropriate for Kindergarten). I tried to play it off that I was a friend of Pete the Cat rockin' in my school shoes and wore my cool gray high tops with plaid interior. The kids just enjoyed seeing me dressed up, so obviously it doesn't take a whole lot of effort to make them happy. They were so excited for the day regardless of what happened in class.

We had the chance to sign up to get trick or treaters tonight since we are in an apartment building and I opted not to. Mr. Sneaker is leaving for Central America later tonight, so we are hanging out, packing, and trying to get in some relaxing. Next year, when we are back in our house and have a cute baby to dress up maybe Halloween will get some of its pizazz back!