Picture this ….



It’s 2:10, school is over
at 2:40, and we’re in the middle of a writing lesson.  Suddenly in
walks a mom bringing along a full-fledged birthday party.  I was
of the understanding that she was planning to drop a little something
off in the afternoon, so I’m envisioning cupcakes or cookies or chips
and punch.  But NO … she walks in with fried chicken, eggrolls,
a cake (with candles, of course), and cans of root beer … and of
course no forks, no plates, no knife, no napkins, no matches. 
Fried chicken?   
And the root beer got all the kids in a panic because most of them had
never heard it before and thought it was actually beer.  “Miss G.,
I don’t want to be impolite, but I can’t drink beer.”



Aiya!  Somehow she and
I managed to get it all worked out, even though she only speaks
Vietnamese.  I scrounged through the cupboards and managed to
piece together most of what we needed … except for a knife and
matches because … hello? … what third grade classroom comes
equipped with knives and matches?   
She tracked down the custodian who happened to have a lighter, and we
all sang along to the fabulous musical candle. 



Now, I have to say that it
was all worth it to see Michael so happy.  He lives with mom,
brother, and grandma, and most of the time he is stuck at home with
grandma who doesn’t drive, meaning that he never goes anywhere or does
anything special.  And he is the sweetest kid you could ever hope
to meet.  But I do wonder if he couldn’t have been just as happy
without the fried chicken. 



Call me a party pooper, but
next year I think I’ll send out a note at the beginning of the year
that stipulates that all birthday treats must come in the form of
something I can literally toss to each child … a bag of chips, a
popsicle, a juice box, a goody bag. 



First order of business
tomorrow will be wiping down the greasy, sticky desks and replacing the
air freshener, since my room currently smells like a combination of KFC
and sweaty kids.  Yum.

Oh,
and I neglected to mention that since the class met one of their class
goals for the month, they got to select a reward and picked … what
else? … banana splits!  So tomorrow afternoon is their banana
split party.  Good thing they got an extra P.E. session from the
principal on Monday for doing all of their spring break homework, huh?