Ethan's class had a gingerbread house decorating party the week after Mason's which was perfect because that way I could go to both without feeling the crunch of time that I normally do running back and forth between their schools on Thursdays. Since I'm room mom for Mason's class I'm deemed "Party Mom" and therefore responsible for all parties in their entirety. My posse of moms and I had decided to do a cookie decorating center which turned into a gingerbread house decorating center. Of course that means I have to assemble 23 houses out of graham crackers and chocolate. Fair enough. Becoming fabulous at delegating, if I do say so myself, I tasked the other parents with bringing candy, decorating supplies, snacks, and supervising the game and craft centers. Two days before the party two of the moms and I were supposed to get together and assemble the houses. I had to cancel because Mason got sick and I didn't want to contaminate anyone or anything. They asked if they could take them home and do it there. OK, if you don' know me that well, you don't know how much I NEED to have control over a project I have been put in charge of. I didn't ask to be room mom. It wasn't something I jumped up and down with my hand up in the air shouting "Pick me! Pick me!" for. Somehow I was nominated. Don't ask me. I'm new here. They asked and I said yes. So I'm learning to delegate, but I'm not a supervisor yet and I like to do some things for myself. But...Matt knows me...and he convinced me that maybe I need to let go of even more things. So I made a kit for each mom with very detailed instructions (numbered and pictured) on how to make these houses. 8 for each of them. 14 for me. I assembled mine the night before plus 5 extra in 1 hour. I had the car packed and ready to go before I went to bed. When I got to the classroom everyone was looking at me very expectantly. I put my things down and asked "What?" They stared laughing and said, nudging each other in the ribs, "See, I told you hers would be perfect!" gesturing to my perfectly square houses. I glanced over at the cookie sheets that held the 16, plus 4 extra, other mommy dilapidated shacks and involuntarily cringed. Recovering, I said, "They're great!" They laughed and launched into the story about how their husbands really wanted to help and how they ended up in a chocolate fight and it was so gooey and so on and so forth. So Mason's teacher comes up and whispers, "So how did you make those houses? They are so cute. Yours, not theirs." I felt bad because I cancelled on them but I felt even worse for the kids who got the ghetto houses that fell apart as soon as they touched them because a volunteer thought it was more important to be goofy instead of making this an important fun day for the kids. Ethan's teacher then asked if I could make the needed 23 houses for their classes as she ran out of time. Thank heaven gingerbread houses are a once-a-season novelty!
Mason's smile always threatens to break our camera lens!
Singing is one of Mason's favorite things, but he is still shy to do it when I'm there. He hasn't been one for an audience since about 3 1/2. He'll entertain in many other ways for a crowd just no singing. Ethan will sing for anybody if he can remember the words.
Ethan's class had a gingerbread house decorating party the week after Mason's which was perfect because that way I could go to both without feeling the crunch of time that I normally do running back and forth between their schools on Thursdays. Since I'm room mom for Mason's class I'm deemed "Party Mom" and therefore responsible for all parties in their entirety. My posse of moms and I had decided to do a cookie decorating center which turned into a gingerbread house decorating center. Of course that means I have to assemble 23 houses out of graham crackers and chocolate. Fair enough. Becoming fabulous at delegating, if I do say so myself, I tasked the other parents with bringing candy, decorating supplies, snacks, and supervising the game and craft centers. Two days before the party two of the moms and I were supposed to get together and assemble the houses. I had to cancel because Mason got sick and I didn't want to contaminate anyone or anything. They asked if they could take them home and do it there. OK, if you don' know me that well, you don't know how much I NEED to have control over a project I have been put in charge of. I didn't ask to be room mom. It wasn't something I jumped up and down with my hand up in the air shouting "Pick me! Pick me!" for. Somehow I was nominated. Don't ask me. I'm new here. They asked and I said yes. So I'm learning to delegate, but I'm not a supervisor yet and I like to do some things for myself. But...Matt knows me...and he convinced me that maybe I need to let go of even more things. So I made a kit for each mom with very detailed instructions (numbered and pictured) on how to make these houses. 8 for each of them. 14 for me. I assembled mine the night before plus 5 extra in 1 hour. I had the car packed and ready to go before I went to bed. When I got to the classroom everyone was looking at me very expectantly. I put my things down and asked "What?" They stared laughing and said, nudging each other in the ribs, "See, I told you hers would be perfect!" gesturing to my perfectly square houses. I glanced over at the cookie sheets that held the 16, plus 4 extra, other mommy dilapidated shacks and involuntarily cringed. Recovering, I said, "They're great!" They laughed and launched into the story about how their husbands really wanted to help and how they ended up in a chocolate fight and it was so gooey and so on and so forth. So Mason's teacher comes up and whispers, "So how did you make those houses? They are so cute. Yours, not theirs." I felt bad because I cancelled on them but I felt even worse for the kids who got the ghetto houses that fell apart as soon as they touched them because a volunteer thought it was more important to be goofy instead of making this an important fun day for the kids. Ethan's teacher then asked if I could make the needed 23 houses for their classes as she ran out of time. Thank heaven gingerbread houses are a once-a-season novelty!
Singing is one of Mason's favorite things, but he is still shy to do it when I'm there. He hasn't been one for an audience since about 3 1/2. He'll entertain in many other ways for a crowd just no singing. Ethan will sing for anybody if he can remember the words.
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