Party Time ~ The Story of a Mother Righting Last Year's Wrongs & Having a Good Time with It!

Last year I made the mistake of not going to Logan's preschool Halloween party.  It's not that I didn't know about the party, because I did.  And it's not that I couldn't get away from work, because I could have.  I just didn't realize that it was such a big deal for parents to be at these things (probably the result of never having my parents at these things.)  And neither did he...until it was party time and a bunch of parents were there, but not HIS mom.  I literally spent the rest of the year being reminded by my at-the-time-four-year-old that I had missed his Halloween party.  It didn't matter that I made it to the Christmas Party.  Or the Valentine's Day party.  I had missed the Halloween party.  Oh, the mommy guilt I lived with for so long...

This year I set out to redeem myself in the eyes of my now-five-year-old.  I made sure I was at the kindergarten Halloween parade AND his classroom's Halloween party.  And I think I managed to make him the happiest kindergartner in existence!  This year I will be hearing all about how I DID make it to his Halloween party!  No mommy guilt this time!

I didn't really know what I was getting myself into.  I had no idea where I was supposed to be, only that I was supposed to be there at 1:45.  If you know me, situations like this send my anxiety meter into overdrive!  But, once I got there, I headed to Logan's classroom and his super awsome teacher sent me in the right direction - after I helped her dress the kindergarten class in their costumes!

First came the parade.  All the parents were sent outside to the bus parking lot where we waited for each class to parade out of the building, around the circle drive, and then back into the building.  Hardest part for me:  making sure I was taking pictures of MY Iron Man!  Luckily, the classroom teacher led the way for each class, and it turned out that Logan was the only Iron Man in his class.
Phew!

As Logan's class went back into the building, I walked with him.  He was excited to point out different things about his school to me as we made our way through the building.  At one point, the class had to line up along the wall in a hallway, sit down, and wait for the parade to end.  It gave the kids a good chance to see all the other costumes because groups of kids filed past them as they were waiting for the parade to end.

Next was the classroom party.  All the kids filed back into the classroom where napkins filled with pretzels and juice boxes waited for them.  There was also a treat bag set out for each student.

The room mother planned two activities for the kids.  The first was "Trick-or-Treating."  The kids all lined up and walked around the room collecting different treats from different parents.  There were suckers, stickers, pencils, and other little goodies.

The second activity was making a "Jack-O-Lantern" out of a clementine.  Each kid was handed a permanent marker and allowed to draw a face on their clementine.

After all of the activities, the kids were allowed to eat their snacks while the teacher, Mrs. Gilby, passed back the little pumpkins that each child had decorated in art class the day before.

And then it was 2:45, the party was over, and I got to take Logan home with me for the day!  On the drive home Logan talked non-stop about what a fun day he had at school, how much he loved the parade and the party, and how excited he was to go Trick-or-Treating that evening!  And, to top of the afternoon, we stopped at Sonic for an Ocean Water!

Like I said, I think I redeemed myself, and I definitely have a happy child this year!

Stay tuned for "Trick or Treat" coming tomorrow!