Buccellation

Steve was gone for a few days (business - alleluia) and the children and I muddled along as best we could without him. I don't think I have ever taken for granted - exactly - his contributions to the household routine but I certainly had a new appreciation for him as I got the twins into the car for the zillionth time in order to trundle back/forth to school/therapy/school. Meanwhile Caroline chose this period to have a growth spurt and she kept asking for something to eat or looked accusingly at me as I hurried her through breakfast in order to get Patrick to school on time. Edward (who is always peckish anyway) clarified their position: "I'm hungry, Mommy. I'm hungry in the car!"

As a complete aside I think the notion of being marked "tardy" is anachronistic. The days in which a young scholar might be tempted to pass some of the morning hours at the ol' Fishing Hole are far behind us. What kid has enough control over their morning that they are personally responsible for being prompt or otherwise? Granted, just once Patrick might remember before I am in the car with the engine running that he needs to wear shoes and wonder where those shoes might be; but for the most part if Patrick is late for school it's because I was busy dragging Caroline out from under the bed not because he stopped en route to whittle himself a slingshot.  

Anyway to keep up with the ravenous beasts I started packing dry goods into my purse which I would lob at the twins over my shoulder as best I could while keeping my eyes on the road. It was a little like Pin the Tail on the Donkey meets feeding time at the seal tank and the back of my car now looks as if Graham Cracker Mountain was hit by a meteor. I hope you realize that it is only my affection for you that is keeping me here when I should be shop-vac'ing.

Hey! Speaking of Pinning Tails. Very important. I had signed up on the first day of school to act as Room Parent for Patrick's class but then I didn't hear anything about it again. I was sort of hoping that my role - like Flower Painter in Ordinary - might be more or less honorary (unless it involved filing - I love filing) but an email from the teacher yesterday addressed to me and my fellow volunteer leads me to understand that the intended function is closer to a Mistress of Revels.

The teacher would like us to organize an in-class Halloween party for the 29th to last approximately an hour and a half and which will possibly include a viewing of Charlie Brown among other activities TBD.

So my question for you is: aw damn it.

I'm really not good at this sort of thing. I asked Julie (who is) and she suggested stations like Identify the Gross Whatsit by touch alone (what do you use to hide the peeled grapes that allows for hands to go in? sincere question) and Bobbing for Apples. I nixed the bobbing on the grounds of utter wetness and added Decorate Your Own Halloween Mask but that's all I have. Suggestions - any suggestions; all suggestions - appreciated.  

What else?

Edward is being released from speech therapy in a week or two. I was surprised because I thought he would keep at it until he was, um, a nationally celebrated sports broadcaster?  but I guess our goal was just getting him to a range of age-appropriateness. It's hard not to compare him to Caroline

[In the car, Monday, after purchasing five gallons of raspberries at Sam's Club -

Caroline: Shall we have strawberries? Let's have strawberries!

Edward: I don't have any stawbewwies but we have razbewwies, ok Tararine?

Caroline, waspishly: It's KAH-roline.]

who speaks very clearly and tends to still speak for him.

The preschool sent home a note saying that they will be doing a Halloween parade so feel free to costume et cetera. I asked Caroline what she would like to be and she said, promptly, "A bumble bee!" I said, oh, ok, bumble bee, check. Then I said, "Edward, would you like to wear a costume for Halloween?"

Caroline said quickly, "He's going to be a witch."

I said, "Caroline do you want to be a witch?"

And she said, "No. I. Want. To. Be. A. BUMBLE BEE. He's the witch."

I said, "Edward can be anything he likes. Edward, what would you like?"

And Edward, always helpful, said, "A witcth!"

I took them to Target later in hopes there was something I could just buy (Patrick, outraged, later: BUY? We do not BUY costumes in this house!) and held up every piece of acetate toddler buffoonery they offered. Butterfly princess? Fairy princess? Woodland fairy princess? Hey! Matching his and her GARDEN GNOMES anyone?

No. They said no. No wings, no hats, no beards, no tutus, no dinosaurs. I saw a turtle thing that Edward hesitated over for a minute and then I realized it was designed for a dog and Edward ultimately rejected it anyway. Finally Caroline saw a pair of cheetah ears and a matching tail and that was it for her. So long bumble bee; hello jungle cat.

Caroline said, "I'll be a cheetah and Edward can be a friend who comes to the zoo and then I'll scratch him."

Edward looked worried. Again.

This picture of Caroline amuses me. It also amuses me that when Patrick was their age I used to pick up the play room every night and I maintained category bins. Ah. Yes.

Oh speaking of Caroline, they were not able to recreate the eye crossing at the opthamologist and the doctor suggested that what we are seeing in photographs is an (ha ha) optical illusion caused by the wide bridge of her nose and the corner of the inner eye giving the impression that the iris and pupil were closer. However the right eye did not react normally and the doctor was not entirely sure why. So no glasses or patches for now but she wants to (ha ha) keep a close eye on her and we're to come back in six months. 

For reference pediatric opthamology appointments last about twelve dog years and they really really suck so in case you have one in your future I recommend: lots of food, lots of books, a laptop, some crayons and a steamer trunk full of toys. Consider yourself warned. 

Patrick brought home a letter yesterday, which started "Dear Parents, Your child has expressed an interest in running for service team representative... ."

I asked Patrick, "You want to be on the service team?"

And he said, "What's the service team?"

So I read him the letter and he repeated his question and I said I did not have the slightest idea but it sounded a bit like what we used to call student council and it would involve representing his class at school meetings.

At which point he said, "Our teacher asked and about ten kids including me raised their hands which cuts it down to a one in ten chance but a lot of those were girls so I might be able to get most of the boy vote so let's say I'm up to 1 in 3. My speech is going to be 'I think I would be an excellent class representative because I am great at expressing myself and I will work hard to make sure everyone - boys and girls - has a voice in our class and the school." Also I have some ideas, such as a student "recess mother" who would make sure people are playing nicely while watching out for the smaller kids and I hear that kickball has gotten a little dangerous so we want to look into that too. But I'm not just about safety, I'm also about fun... ."

And I blinked at him because for someone who claimed not to know what I was talking about he sure seemed to have a stump speech prepared. I wished him luck in his campaign. He thanked me. 

Edward likes football (unlike Patrick who loathes it and Caroline who sobs on Sundays, "Noooooo! No football! Watch a little something else! Noooooooo! NOT FOOTBALL!") and he will happily sit on Steve's lap for extended periods of time shouting "Tack'l him! Tack'l him!" at the referees and the mascots and the cheerleaders.

His Nerf football is his new constant companion and for some reason he fancies himself as the punter, carefully arranging the ball at his toes before booting it and running after it. About half the time he runs smack into a wall, which I think indicates an actual vocation for the sport. Go Bear.

And that's what's going on with us. No new Someone scheduled yet, Paxil still making me sort of sleepy. Don't forget the Halloween party ideas, I need them.

Comments

[Christine]

He wants to be a kicker. You aren't hit often, your career lasts forever. Go little kicker Edward!

[Whitney]

Party ideas: instead of bobbing for apples, hang little donuts from strings and have them eat them with their hands behind their backs. You could use apples for health reasons but they are pretty hard to get your teeth into that way. Either way this presupposes a way/place to hang strings so as to position donuts at mouth level. How about a group-created scarecrow, or maybe to a few to minimize clumping and maximize individual chances of contribution -- have some clothes, some long dowels for vertical and horizontal support, plus lots of newspaper and straw for stuffing. Or mini scarecrows somehow? Just out of paper.

[Heidi]

Patrick's speech makes me think of Max Fischer in "Rushmore". Love it.

[quirkfarms]

no Halloween ideas but on the eye thing, my grand daughter got the same eye comments early on...and is five now with no significant eye problems. and for us fossils the eye dr. takes an eternity as well...and with I might add excruciatingly uncomfortable chairs. Egads! enjoy your blog so much.

[Dawn]

For the Halloween party, I would divide into three sections - the identifying gross stuff (hold the bowls up high?), some kind of craft (making a mask or a decoration to take home or maybe decorating a canvas bag to use for trick or treating?), a Halloween themed snack that they put together (for example: http://familyfun.go.com/halloween/best-halloween-recipes-786790/#Pear%20Witch%20Project;13 ), and then let them watch the video while the adults clean up.

The Family Fun website has loads of crafts, recipes, etc.

http://familyfun.go.com/halloween/

Good luck!

[Emily]

How about decorating mini-pumpkins? Less paper involved. My kids bring home way too many paper crafts which just get tossed. Also, I love the sticking your hand in the unknown substance idea. I think you will need a largish box, cut a hole in one side and drape a cloth napkin over it. Have kids stick their hand in the hole and there will be a bowl inside. Fill with gummy worms in jello or pudding, plastic bugs, basically anything sticky and gross. I would also ask nicely for the movie. 1 1/2 hours is a looong time...

[Marsha]

Shoe boxes with hand-sized holes work well for holding gross-out stuff (peeled grapes for "eyeballs", cooked spaghetti for "brains", that kind of thing) Cover the boxes (lid and bottom separately) with halloweenish paper (and line them with plastic wrap - important!) and the tape a bit of shredded to cover the hole but still allow hands through. Lesson learned from my house to yours: worms in the boxes will die in less than two hours and stink in less than three. Not a good idea.

Painting miniature pumpkins is fun with either water colors or tempura. White pumpkins in particular are fun. If the teacher is paint-phobic, stickers and markers and glitter glue are nice subs.

If you're allowed to have "sweet treats" (my kids' school isn't anymore) it's fun to decorate sugar cookies, too. Someone buys or pre-bakes round (or pumpkin-shaped) cookies - large-ish sized) and then the kids decorate them with orange, white, black or green frostings and appropriate sprinkles which have been procured for the purpose (warning: homemade black frosting can stain). If you get a bunch of small pizza-type boxes they can take their cookies home and bedevil their parents' houses with them).

On a public service note, you might be able to find a little crafty thing (Oriental Trading is genuis about this, although I am so conflicted about them) that the kids can make and then be donated to a hospital or nursing home or meals on wheels to add a seasonal festive note to meal trays.

And then there are always the "how many words can you make from Halloween Pumpkin" - judging from storied about Patrick's class you'll get a few hundred in less than five minutes. But what a fun five minutes it'll be!

Man, this is a long comment. Sorry. It's my years and years as room mom/team mom/Scout leader coming out.

[AnnaN]

Apropos of absolutely nothing, I heard of this on NPR and thought of Patrick. It's a computer game designed to get people to help solve protein folding problems at the University of Washington ("“It turns out that humans are a lot smarter at this than supercomputers").

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129914162

http://fold.it/portal/

[Jan]

Ghost, pumpkin, mummy jars.
Small (pumpkin) and and large (ghosts) baby food jars.
Paint jars with diluted white glue, can be done section at a time.
Apply torn pieces, one or two layers, of tissue paper paper napkin, white for ghost and combination of yellow and orange for pumpkin.
Glue on black paper or felt cut in shape of ghost eyes and mouth or eyes, etc. for the jack a lantern. Place a safety tea light or fake battery tea light in bottom of container. Covering a mason jar with torn strips of masking tape, the tannish, thin tape, make amazingly real looking "mummy" jars. I always have a row of them outside my house for Halloween.

Feet or hand ghosts
A little messy, but have children paint bottom of one or both bare feet witih washable white paint, make imprint on black paper or felt, put two small blobs of sparkly black paint at bottom of heels and one slightly larger one below for the "eyes and mouth." (Have to visualize the feet marks upside down -- the toe marks are the ruffly hems of the ghost gowns.) You can also do this with hand prints, although less ghostly -- have them keep palm firm on paper but move fingers a little. Here, the fingers mark the bottom of the ghost.

origami pumpkins and ghosts
http://www.origami-instructions.com/origami-halloween-pumpkin.html

Pasta skeletons!
Get different shapes – curly spirals, rainbow macaroni, small shells, long tubes, long spaghetti, wagon wheel pasta, etc.) and dried beans. Have printout of skeleton so the kids know where all the bones are and how to create their skeletons. Have them construct their skeleton onto black construction paper without gluing (to make sure they have enough room on the paper for the whole skeleton’s body). Wagon wheel pasta is good for the head of the skeleton, long tubes are good for the collar bones, dried lentils and tiny tube pasta is good as vertebrae in the spine, small shell pasta is good for the ankles, wrists and kneecaps, two dried lima beans are good for hips. Let them be creative with this.

[BethF]

Love the mini pumpkin idea but need to have googly eyes, yarn pieces and furry tufts? for hair. Kids love that stuff. You can ask grocery stores to give you pumpkins for free or they will give you a nice discount since it is for school.

Also love the decorating sugar cookie idea.

Since these are all smarty kids, you could do Halloween items on a tray. Have them look at it for a minute and see who can remember the most items.

Make sure you bring a CD of Halloween sounds to play during the party.

[bethany actually]

If you go with stations, one of them could be making lollipop ghosts: tie a square of white tissue paper over the head of a Dum-Dum-type lollipop with a piece of orange yarn, add eyes and mouth with black marker. Simple and cheap.

The identifying-gross-things game was always one of my LEAST favorites when I was a kid. I hated being forced to touch things sight-unseen. Make that one optional if you have any mercy in your soul.

Oriental Trading Company sells foam-sticker kits of all kinds for relatively cheaply, and kids usually love those. Especially if they involve glitter-glue.

Stick-the-something-on-the-something-Halloweeny? Uh, stick the eyes and mouth on the jack-o-lantern, or the hat on the witch?

[Jan]

Love the tray idea above! That scene from Kim, the Game of the Jewels in Lurgan Sahib's shop, is one of my all-time favorites.

[Jan]

Powdered mini-donuts hanging from a broomstick is always popular and makes for amusing photographic opportunities. (You make the kids put their hands behind their backs to eat them. If anybody is particularly good at it, you use the broomstick to pull the donut away just as he gets ready to bite.

I believe a bowl with a dish towel over the top is the traditional stick-your-hand-in-goo serving unit. Peeled grapes and cold spaghetti.

Truly, the kids won't care what you do so long as it involves copious amounts of sugar.

[Taryn]

We did a craft in elementary school for halloween that was kind of neat...everyone got a peeled apple, and carved a face into it. It became the head of a witch (with a soda bottle for the body) and you made a black dress and hat for it. Overtime, the apple becomes more and more dry and wrinkled--a perfect witch face! I've done the donut on a string thing many times. You could have face painting, mini pumpkin painting, etc.

[Maria]

You could have them make mini grave yards: dixie cups pre-filled with chocolate pudding. Crushed graham crackers or oreos for dirt, peeps ghosts, vienna fingers for tombstones.

[victoria]

Your family is a JOY. Those kids slay me. Thank you for sharing them with us.

[Laurie]

What I think I love most about this post is where Caroline is perched at in the picture with not a care in the world. That girl has spunk! Love the picture of Edward too!

[Alyce]

Decorate caramel apples!

Someone told me you could mail a small pumpkin just by writing on it. Maybe ask the post office if it's allowed and mail each kid a pumpkin c/o the school? Or have them mail one home to their parents?

Make a cake with a cemetery on it (ground up oreos for dirt, gummy worms, mellowcreme pumpkins, etc.

We did an eyeball relay (drew and eye onto a ping pong ball and tried to race with it carried on a spoon).

There are a ton of Halloween printables (for coloring, word search, math problems) online if you google it.

[lizardek]

Lollipop ghosts! suckers, kleenex, bit of orange or black string, marker for ooo's for eyes and mouth: voila!

[Meegan]

Someone mentioned this already, but I also loved seeing Caroline perched atop the kitchen set in the playroom photo. I didn't notice her at first, she seems so at home up there. It's like "Where's Waldo?", which might seem like an insult to the state of your playroom but rest assured, you are in good company.

Someone suggested the "Halloween related items on a tray, take away the tray and try to recall said items" game. I LOVED that as a "smarty" kid. A prize must be given for winning if competition is allowed. Aside from that, I'm at a loss. My kids are 4 and under and I, too, am trying to put together an activity. Mine is for a pre-school class. Any thoughts? Anyone?

[Kate]

Toilet paper mummies? Kids wrap each other in toilet paper and run around making silly noises!

[Cara]

I love the idea of decorating mini-pumpkins instead of paper jack o' lanterns, but then I want to add paper back in there by suggesting they make masks.

[Liz]

Party ideas: Donuts (or those cookies with a hole in them) on a string. You hang up a few central lines, then dangle the treats on strings. The kids try to eat them while not using their hands.

Spooky cupcake decorating. Provide the cupcakes frosted in different colors and let the kids go to town with sprinkles and licorice strings.

Mask making?

[Becky]

For snacks, I would suggest these bowls: http://www.diapers.com/product/productdetail.aspx?productid=18969

My kids start using them at around a year old and they work quite well. My son is now 4 and still uses them. There is some spillage but not nearly as much as you might expect and they hold up really well. I fill them half way with a mix of mini wheats, cheerios, raisins, annie's bunnies, or whatever else strikes my fancy (a personalized toddler trail mix, if you will) and that tends to be sufficient for snacking in the car. I know they have them in the baby aisle of our grocery store and I think they have them at Target.

I also have good luck with corn thins. http://www.amazon.com/Real-Foods-Original-Wheat-Free-5-3-Ounce/dp/B000LKXJW0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=grocery&qid=1286486999&sr=1-1

They don't have the crumb issues that standard rice cakes do and they are non-perishible enough to live in the car. Alternatively, I use Quakes but you have to dole out several to get the same time consuming effect of a corn cake.

[Anne]

In small groups of maybe 3, hand out a paper with maybe 10 first lines. Also hand out pencils. Each group is to complete the couplets with the funniest/grossest/scariest ending they can. "But you can add only one line for each one!" (Ask Patrick if this would work better with one paper per group or with a paper for each kid. If he thinks it would be more fun if every kid had his paper, maybe hand out (already sharpened) Halloween pencils also that yes, they can keep.)
Announce that they have to stop just as soon as you ring the bell (holler BOO!/or whatever). Warn them not to work so loudly that other groups can hear them. Then you watch them and call time (shout Boo! Stop! or whatever)when you see that they're about done (maybe 10 minutes--see how it goes). Then you tell them now each group needs to put a star beside the best 3 or 4. Give them a couple of minutes to decide. Then they read their best couplets aloud. Prizes optional; probably applause is even better. Here are sample starters:
1. There once was a pumpkin who said,
2. The scariest thing in the world
3. They say that on Halloween night
4. A black cat who crosses your path
5. A skeleton jumped in the road
6. "Trick or Treat!"
7. I think that I once saw a ghost
8. The candy that I like the most
9. You'll be safe while you're out in the dark
10. I think when I knock on a door

May check with the teacher first, just so you know that none of your activities duplicate a writing/craft/singing/physical activity she's doing also.

[Lawmommy]

If you are good at making cut-out cookies - (and absolutely no jugment whatsoever if cut-out cookies aren't your thing...I have many things I'm NOT good at, but I can make a pumpkin shaped sugar cookies pretty well, (also heart shaped, and turkey shaped...it's my go-to kid friendly cookie project)) - you could make enough pumpkins for the class, along with a large volume of orange frosting and green frosting, and allow them to do "frost your own pumpkin cookie." Yes, it's messy. But also? Delicious. It's better if you make your own frosting, because store-bought frosting is disgusting and very bright and tends to stain (in my experience) more so than homemade frosting.

[Kirsten]

As a first grade teacher, my favorite parties consisted of 1) decorating sugar cookies 4 kids at a time while the rest of the class has choice time (do anything you want, including coloring, puzzles, etc.) and chats; and 2)watching a movie with popcorn. The kids loved the freedom and I loved that there was little-to-no planning involved, since I did not have any parents begging to plan parties for me. :)

[Steph]

My kids love to decorate cookies.

The parties at my daughters school always consist of "stations" one group goes to one part and does a craft (I'm not crafty) then to the cookie decorating then to a game. Then they eat "healthy" stuff (orange slices, cheese and crackers, veggies and dip) I rolled my eyes at this at first (I love sweets), but so many of the kids don't get nutritious food at home that they all gobbled it up without complaint.

Hope this helps.

[Helen]

Caroline is so high up there... That's the only thought that's coming to mind at this point. I can't imagine how she could've gotten up there.

[Jacqui]

google the game bats and moths - we played it at birthday parties as kids it is fun!
The tray game is also great

[alison]

Oh!You must watch the doccie Vote for Me. Chinese school children (8?10?) take on the democratic system to elect a class leader, for the first time ever, and pull every dirty election trick imaginable. It's marvelous. Netflix has it, and if you have streaming, you can watch it without having to wait for the disc to arrive.

[Mama Fuss]

Used to go to a kids Halloween party every year as a young child, in the Patrick age-range. They used bandannas to cover the bowls, but there was someone there to monitor it so there was no peeking. You couldn't just leave the bowls there or they'd peek. Wet noodles make excellent "brains" btw if you're looking for something else to add to that station.

So funny how parallel your Caroline and my Caroline are - mine speaks SO clearly that most people are amazed she is only 2 1/2. Yours seems a little more precocious and particular, though (which is hard to imagine...) My Caroline is going to be a (ready-made) Ladybug this year. Can't wait to see the pictures of the kids dressed up. Maybe you could find a football uniform for Edward?
Is Patrick continuing w/ his Alphabet theme from years past?

[Smumzie]

Oh! Yes - what is Patrick going to be? Also, love your family. Suggest peanut butter in a shoe box guess the gross game but make a pre-made hole in the lid that only fits ONE finger - and line the inside of the lid with a cut out finger of a rubber glove. It feels like poo. (We love the gross here).

[HereWeGoAJen]

What about empty tissue boxes for the stick your hand in thing? Appropriately sized and with pre-cut holes.

When I was teaching, my greatest party ever (as voted by the kids) was when we did a party inspired by the Sugar Plum Tree poem. (This one was Christmas themed, but you could do a Halloween poem instead.) We'd been learning the poem, which is full of candy references and things like gingerbread dogs and chocolate cats, so I procured some of each kind of candy (and made gingerbread dogs and brownie cats) and laid them out in covered bowls. Then we read the poem and I uncovered each item at the appropriate poetical moment. I have never seen a happier bunch of second graders. I guess my point is that it doesn't matter what you do as long as you have enough candy.

Class decoration of a Halloween themed gingerbread house? Make your own trail mix with Halloween snacks thrown in (also a popular one from my class)? Oh, and absolutely you should make cornstarch slime.

[Kristin]

I went to a country school with grades K-8 (no, I'm not that old - it was in the 80's) and the 8th graders put on a Halloween party every year. Some of the different stations were:

Go fish (someone stood behind a partial wall and attached paper fish to a clothes pin on the fishing line)

How many candy corns? Closest guess wins the candy corn

Name the skeleton (this involved dressing up an inflatable skeleton - I won when I was in 7th grade) and the winner won a Snickers

Fortune Teller

Basketball throw (it was in the gym)

And the way to keep the kids from seeing what they're feeling = blindfold!!! In a dark room, preferrably. I wish I could remember what the "brains" actually were...

I hope you have a good time. If I was a Mom this would be one of my favorite reasons to be a Room Mother.

[Priscilla]

Any updates on the teacher??!? Perhaps the party would be a nice time to shoot her the side eye and size things up for yourself.

I love the idea of skeletons made from a variety of pasta and dried beans.

[Jody]

Cold oatmeal for brains.

[winecat]

Halloween ideas - the grapes go in a box with a hole cut in for inserting little hands. Cooked spaghetti works well for "intestines"

How about an altered version of pin the tail on the donkey, pin the witch on the broom?

Go Edward, every team needs a good kicker by the time you reach grade school the major leagues will be around to draft you.

[Eva]

facepainting is popular at my kids' preschool (doesn't have to be scary faces, just something on the cheek, like a pumpkin or a leaf or ghost or fall/Halloween themed). Also, their teacher lets all of the kids paint her face and they seem to like that.

[jana]

For Halloween, I think Patrick should make himself a big hat and be The Cat in the Hat and the twins can be Thing 1 and Thing 2. Have y'all already done that? It would be so cute!

[Cris]

No suggestions, merely admiration. I wish you would write about my kids; I have the feeling I would be more amused by them then.

I love that Edward and Steve have something special to bond over. My kids all know Tiger Woods (um, not personally for ANY reason) and shout "hole! hole!" like drunk tournament attendees. But for some reason football evokes the same reaction it does in Caroline. Although my 7 year old does seem willing to endure the football for the occasional scary / inappropriate commercial. I can't tell if she really likes them, or the way one of us will jump for the remote and the other will tackle her in an attempt to block her vision.

I'd love to see Edward as a kicker. I bet he'd actually try to make a tackle on the run back, unlike most of those guys. Is the Tiny Football League in our reading future?

[Melissa H]

cardboard box with hand size hole. Set over bowl of gross stuff (cooked, wet spaghetti, peeled grapes, I can't recall the other stuff....Jello?)
Good luck!

[Jaruuds.wordpress.com]

No one has touched your tardy comment! I'm so scared of having my kids be tardy- because what do you say? My son was late because I couldn't find my keys? My son was late because his sister was pooping? I'm pretty sure if I gave the real reasons the note would be passed around the office. So... so far we've been in the clear. I give us a super amount of layway time so if we actually leave "on time" we're early.

[Vanessa]

My daughter had a Halloween party at home last year - she and her friends were all going on 11 at the time - and here is what they did:

1. Painting mini pumpkins
2. No-hands eating of doughnuts on strings
3. Fishing gummy worms out of whipped-cream-filled pie plates with their teeth
4. Standing in a circle and tossing a ball of string back and forth to each other to make a "spiderweb"

Everyone seemed to enjoy all of these (especially the eating ones), and in fact, my daughter recently came home and said "Can I have another Halloween party this year? All my friends are asking because last year was so much fun." I'd call that a success.

Also, we are late at least one morning a week, despite all my best efforts. If I had a dollar for every time someone has said something like "You need to lay out your clothes the night before" or "Just set the alarm a little earlier," I would have enough money to hire a private tutor and forget all these public-school shenanigans. No matter how much I do the night before or how early I set the alarm, I always end up being derailed by an impossible-to-wake-up kid (the closer they get to being teenagers, the more their morning sleep resembles a coma) or unexpected cat barf on the floor, or something else. We're five weeks into the year and I'm expecting to get my first threatening "your child has too many tardies" letter from the school anytime now.

[Patty]

Two ideas for games:

Wrap a few inexpensive prizes (Halloween pencils, a small bag of candy, etc) in wrapping paper several times each so there are anywhere from 8-10 layers. Put chairs in a circle and play a version of musical chairs except the kids stay in the same seat, but the presents get passed from person to person until the music stops. Whoever it lands at gets to unwrap a layer. The person that unwraps the last layer gets the prize. I used Halloween music to play the game and the kids always loved to watch to see if there was another layer underneath. I did two at a time starting across from the other because we had larger class sizes, but one would be good if it's a smaller group.

Use the chalkboard to play hangman. Bring a list of Halloween themed words or phrases and put one at a time up on the board and they raise their hand and guess a letter and then the word if they know it and they win if they guess right. I always hit the dollar tree for cheap holiday themed prizes.

Both are easy and take up some time. An hour and a half is a long time so a simple craft idea and food would round it out. My teachers always had the craft ideas ready and the school provided the donuts and juice, but your school may be different. Have fun!

[Veronica]

The part about Edward shouting 'Tack'l him!' had me laughing out loud. Kids are brilliant.

[Lisa]

Julia, no specific Halloween suggestions, but I just wanted to say how much I enjoy your writing. I literally laughed out loud eating my breakfast reading Patrick's "stump speech". Priceless.

[Leandra]

My son had the same optical illusion with his eyes. We worried about it for years, but it only really showed up in pictures. We kept questioning our pediatricians (we had two different ones because we moved) and both assured us his eye was fine. Our doctor told us to take a picture of our son looking straight at the camera. If the reflected light in his eyes was in the same place in both eyes, that meant his eyes were fine. Now that he's gotten older and the bridge of his nose is smaller, we don't notice it as much.

I think Patrick is a born politician.

[wendy]

Not to be the voice of doom on the eye front, but we saw an eye doctor who told me my son had the optical illusion/wide-set eye thing when he was around 2. Her last words were "bring him back in when he's 5!" Unfortunately, I kept using her diagnosis to ignore his worsening eye problem (believe me, I am kicking myself now) until someone (a rather rude someone) in a restaurant said "He's so cute! Too bad about his eye!" I think it's a good thing you are having a 6 month follow-up. My new eye doctor (who did surgery to correct the problem last year when my son was 4) said that kids can sometimes hold the eye in position at an eye appointment because they are concentrating on their eyes, and that it's only when the problem gets much worse that they can't control it.

[Dianna]

Long time reader, never a poster. Coming out of the woodwork to shout a very sincere THANK YOU for posting that picture of your playroom. Our toyroom AND the girls' bedrooms all look like that. I tell people that when my children have gone to college, I will clean again. Really... I will. But for now, it's immensely soothing to know that I'm not the only one.

Oh. And some schools don't allow masks on the kids for Halloween so you may want to check on that before you purchase supplies. :)