At the school Miss 10 goes to, we don't do Halloween parties. (I know! It's simply horrible.. wink wink!) Instead we have a Fall Festival. All of the grades party together for about an hour at the end of the day. It's really loud, it's very busy and it's highly stressful (for the organizers) for about an hour. We have parent volunteers to man different stations and for those who can't volunteer we ask for donations for snacks and supplies.
I have been the co-chair for this event for about 6 or 7 years now. I know, I'm just glutton for punishment, aren't I? But we have to put in 30 hours of volunteer time per family, and this usually gets us off to a good start. Typically I put in about 9 to 10 hours of time doing the planning, shopping, prepping and actual partying. None of it is stressful until the actual party. Then I'm running around making sure everyone has what they need, and delivering things to classrooms and cleaning up, and generally feeling pretty much on the verge of a heart attack.
Tomorrow is our Fall Festival. We are gathering all the grades in the gym, dividing them up into mixed age groups and then spending 10 minutes at a station totaling one hour. We will have 6 stations total. We have done some great stations in the past, and try to cater to each age group. This year we will have 2 relay stations. They are always the biggest hit of the festival. One of them involves putting on old, big, baggy, clothes and the other I'm still planning. Why am I still planning something the day before the event? Well, because the station we had planned involved apples, and no one was willing/able to donate apples for us. We can't afford enough apples for each of 120 or so kids, so I am stuck doing last minute planning. Not that a relay is all that difficult to plan, but I'm hoping for a brilliant revelation of something new and exciting that caters to ages 5 through 12. Sigh....
In other news, the play was cute, difficult to hear, but cute. Miss 10 was amazingly loud enough for everyone to hear (One of the few) and she wasn't shy, she wasn't totally out there for the world to see, but she wasn't shy, and that is what we hoped for. It's a huge, huge step for her.
Meanwhile, I am in the middle of this festivus, home remodeling projects, and I leave on Thursday for a trip for a few days. So I'm feeling a little stressed, and cranky, maybe I just need a drink~ a stiff drink.
Sign in an elevator of at Kohls
13 years ago
1 comment:
That's so great about Miss 10! I love how you find opportunities for her to step out of her comfort zone (regarding her shyness) in incremental stages and then praise her for it. You watch her reactions to make sure the situation isn't too scary for her and add reassurance when needed. I wish more parents understood how terrifying some seemingly normal, everyday activities are for shy children and offered the support, compassion and encouragement that you do.
It took me well into adulthood to start doing this for myself to overcome my shyness and I still struggle in many situations. I also haven't participated in a lot of things I would have liked to because of being too shy.
It warms my heart to know that you aren't letting shyness keep Tessa from fully participting in everything she wants to do - you are helping her through it all. This will give her the courage and knowledge she needs to work through these feelings on her own when she's older - if she doesn't completely conquer her shyness by then.
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