August 29, 2014

if i ran a Parenting School

there are many, many things that i would have in the curriculum:
Manners 101
Kindness 102
Honesty 103
How To Keep All The Things Clean 104
Communicating with Tiny Humans 101
How to Take a Deep Breath 405
Learning to Live without Naps 743
you get the gist. . . 

i was reminded of one would-be-class earlier this week. 
Prepping Class Projects 101
i am not yet sure if this should be a single class, or an entire course. 
suffice it to say, this mom could at least benefit from a workshop on "Shoebox Decorating."
because either bern or i find ourselves doing this at least twice a year. 
and each time i am reminded that, though i can wrap a lovely gift for the holidays, there are nuances to shoeboxes that i just can't conquer. 

this week, we needed to prep a box for benny's class, and i was excited to see that we actually had a few tucked away in our closets. 
(new parent? start saving these now.)
and then i was instantly saddened when i realized that ALL of them had attached lids. 
i am sure this is a huge improvement for people working in the shoe industry, as the battle to keep lids on all the boxes must be ongoing. 
however, for me, it just resulted in this: 



and some of this. 

and then negotiating the proper amount of paper to cover the whole box, not be saggy, and still not be too tight for the box to actually close. 
the answer, without fail, to each dilemma? 

apply.
more.
tape.

at long last, i managed to assemble a somewhat respectable product. 
then it was time for benny to decorate. 
he was supposed to decorate the outside of the box, without putting his name on it, so that kids in the class could guess whose it was. 
then fill it with little treasures for Show & Tell. 

these are benny's favorite things. 
as of 7:00pm on tuesday, august 26, 2014. 
pokemon.
pokemon.
those are three swords in black, green and red. (it's upside down for the top.)
and...5 ice cream cones. 
the kid really does love his ice cream. 
on the side, he drew our family. 
apparently i was having a really bad hair day. 
when i asked him if was going to draw our pup, Rocky, he sat quietly for a moment. 
then he declined. 
he thought that would be too complicated. 

so he threw in another ice cream cone for good merit. 

1 comment:

  1. Hmm, I sure do see the resemblance in that picture of Bernie...and he drew you in one of your favorite colors! :)

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