Am I the only one who tries to follow the rules? I know I’m not the only one but it seems that way sometimes. A few weeks ago there was a Daddy/Child dinner at Dolly’s school and Paul wanted to take Dolly. I had to sign them up on a form in the classroom and, since it asked who would be attending, I asked Dolly’s teacher if Paul could also bring the boys to the dinner, or if it was just for the child in the class. I was told it was just for the classroom child and the Dad. Okay, that was fine. I signed up Paul and Dolly, and they attended while the boys stayed home with me.
A couple of weeks ago there was a notice that, tonight, there would be a Mommy/Child dinner. I signed up for Dolly and me to attend. Yesterday the boys asked me if they could go with us and I told them that it wasn’t permitted so they asked if Paul could pick them up for a while. Paul had said he would but a last-minute kink ended that so the boys would be staying home with Kara and her kids. They were upset that they wouldn’t be seeing Paul but they had no choice.
So Dolly and I went to the dinner and were the first in the classroom. A few minutes later a mother showed up with her daughter, who’s in Dolly’s class, plus her older daughter. Then, as more Moms started arriving I noticed that almost half of them, and there were about twelve of us, brought extra kids along with them. Many of them brought an extra two kids. That really ticked me off, and I’ll tell you why.
I had specifically asked if other kids in the family could attend and was told they weren’t allowed. This was supposed to be a dinner for just the students and the Moms. I would have loved to take the boys for an evening of fun but I didn’t want to step on anyone’s toes. It was also explained to me that they needed to know, in advance, who was attending because they needed to make sure they had enough food for everyone. That’s fair, and I respected their wishes.
These Moms who came tonight with all the extra kids apparently didn’t give any notice that the kids would be attending because the lead teacher sent an assistant teacher to the kitchen to find out if the cook had made extra, or if she needed to stretch the food that was delivered. Lucky for all, there was extra if needed. Not only that, but there wasn’t enough seating for everyone so the teachers were scrambling to move tables and rearrange chairs to make room.
Now, you might say that maybe the moms who had tag-a-longs were single moms. That may be true but do any of them have any friends or family who could watch the other siblings for a while? I’m a single mother and I made arrangements for my boys. Okay, I’ll say that maybe, just maybe, one, perhaps two, of them, didn’t have any alternative so the siblings had to attend. But there is no way on Earth that all five mothers couldn’t find alternate means in a situation like this. This was just not right and it needs to be made clear that, for future events, if the event is for students only, siblings need to stay home.
What’s done is done, though, and I can’t change it. My irritation only lasted a short while and I really enjoyed the dinner and the time Dolly and I spent together. The teachers gave us popsicle stick picture frames that the kids got to decorate with markers and stickers; and the lead teacher took a picture of each parent/child combination for the kids to put in the frame. Then they served a really good dinner with cookies for dessert; and for the finale, we got to dance to kids’ songs.
We moved to the carpeted area in the classroom where one of the assistant teachers got out the CD player and played a couple of songs the kids liked, that had dances to go with them. The kids loved it and, yes, I did the dances along with the kids. There was only one other mother besides me and the teacher who played the songs who actually danced. The rest all just stood around watching. Dolly said that Paul didn’t dance either when he went with her a couple of weeks ago. It was really pretty fun, too.
One of the songs the teacher played was “Tooty Ta!” by Dr. Jean & Friends. I’ve been dancing along with this song since the boys were in Head Start five years ago. Yes, I did the actual dance: Thumbs up, elbows back, feet apart, knees together, bottoms up, tongue out, eyes shut, turn around. I may have looked silly but I don’t care. I had fun, and Dolly was thrilled that I danced with her.
All in all it was a really nice evening. Good food, lots of fun, great company. Dolly couldn't stop smiling, and neither could I. If you ever get the chance to attend an informal school dinner with your kids, I highly recommend you go and act silly while you’re there. It makes for great memories and the kids will love it.
Until next time…peace to all.
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