Today the kids all have their winter parties and the excitement level is high! It means there are only two more days of school before that most treasured time of year...winter break! A whole week and a half without school...we can do whatever we want (so they think)! I am thinking...only two more days before they are home for a week and a half...then I cannot do whatever I need to do!
Molly asked me last night if I would be volunteering at her party. Unfortunately, I won't. I will be in Colin's classroom because there aren't enough parents for the 5th grade party. We have all been there, done that and no one feels like they have to be there this year. So, sorry kiddo, next year...maybe I can be at your party then. Then she asked me why I was always the one to volunteer for everything. Five years old and she already can see I am always the one to volunteer for things. Not sure if that is a good thing or not. Colin has already asked me to stop always being there. And thinking about that sort of thing only increases my Christmas funk.
But, one of the benefits of being there is you get to plan what you want your kids to do at their party. This year we decided the 5th graders were going to give back. We are putting together a bag of stuff for a first grade classroom in a North Minneapolis school. We knew our children's teacher has a daughter that teaches in a classroom in North. We thought maybe there was something we could do for these kids. So when we approached Colin's teacher with this idea, we suggested the kids could donate a book and maybe some snacks. This would be instead of each of us spending $5 on a silly toy that they would exchange at the end of their party. She thought it sounded great. She knew the kids in her daughter's class would love this.
She then shared with us a little bit more about the kids. These kids come from shelters, or live in cars, or in a closed in front porch without heat. These kids will not get much food when they don't have school. Winter break isn't a time to celebrate because school feeds you and keeps you warm. These kids don't have hats and mittens to protect them from the windchill. These kids had no idea there was such a place as a bookstore where you could actually buy a book and keep it forever. Many of the kids have already shared that they won't be eating for Christmas because their Mama is already out of stamps for the month. This is reality for these six and seven year olds.
I asked the parents in Colin's classroom if anyone would be willing to give more than a book and I was shocked to have so many parents and grandparents step forward to donate everything from hats and mittens to crayons to Chapstick. We now will be bringing bags with a new book, color book, crayons, pencils, stickers, Chapstick, snacks, hats and mittens, and socks. I have to be honest, this whole exercise took the Christmas funk I have been feeling and erased it completely.
Friday, Colin and I, along with two other kids and moms from his class, will drive to North Minneapolis and deliver the bags. We will also be bringing winter coats and uniforms our class collected for these kids.
And I feel like this is what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown.
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