Then one day as I was sitting in the floor sorting through various things that needed to be picked up, put up, donated, or just plain thrown away it occurred to me I had a ton of stuff left over from various parties, favors, and a miscellaneous hodge podge of things I had bought and for one reason or another (not quite enough for everyone, too big, too much, etc.) and ended up not using. In fact I had a whole slew of Lightening McQueen stuff I had collected before the boys’ Lightning McQueen party for party favors before it occurred to me that little girls would probably rather have little girl stuff instead of Lightning McQueen stuff. :) And since we hadn’t moved to this school until after that party I had a whole new audience who would likely appreciate it. :)
And luckily because there were 2 classes with as few as 7 or 8 boys or girls in one class and only 14 or 15 boys or girls in the other I was able to take advantage of those things I only had 10, 12, 14, or 16 of vs. having a whole class set of 25-30. While the classes got essentially the same things, one class got toolboxes, while the other class got lunch boxes. One class got reward stickers, the others got glitter stickers. One class got pencils, one class got pens. Etc. And I didn't have to buy a thing, except candy. Though I did end up giving away some hotwheels I will probably miss come birthday party time sometime I am sure as I only had 7 or 8 actual LMQ cars left
As it turned out I had exactly enough lunch boxes, but was two short in the class with the toolboxes. Luckily enough that also happened to be the class with two of the kids that we knew from before we moved to this school who had come to the boys' party and already had toolboxes. So they got the "lockers" I had picked up as "just in case" when I was scouring Walmarts looking for more toolboxes or lunch boxes after Valentines day - 2 years ago? Win, win!
Same thing with the girls – as I was making past Christmas treats, or was planning to make future treats and saw things here and there I picked them up to add to my stash. So the girls got quite an ecclectic collection of things from stamps, and pencils, to pulles, coloring books, and cups.
Though the packing really wasn't up to my typical standards. In fact the ONLY Brandi like packaging was the pencil sets – which I actually drafted Kevin into making much to his chagrin when at midnight I was rounding up supplies and realized that despite the fact SOMEWHERE IN THIS HOUSE there are a MILLION Christmas themed erasers I couldn’t find them. Though I did manage to locate a package two days before to make a sample. Someday I will discover them in the most unexpected place and run screaming madly though the house “I FOUND THEM!!!”
Though despite my example showing everything perfectly straight, Kevin managed to get them in the package with much less attention to detail, and much more focus on “just getting this crap done!” and at 2:30 am when I got home after having searched two stores to no avail I didn’t even notice, and even if I had I wouldn’t have cared. My thanks at his having helped for the first time that I can remember in my treat packaging madness was quite heartfelt. I did however find another set of Christmas erasers though not the ever elusive originals to include the last 11 packages which I finished up just in time to see 3 am roll around. :)
I had planned to assemble the girls' treats simply in little gift boxes that I picked up at Target last year.
Given the precarious packing and lack of space left in my oversized bags, floor, and car I opted to leave the girls’ unassembled to be finished at school just before putting them in the kids’ cubbies.
As it was it was a miracle I managed to get in the door at all with just 2 of the giant bags. Not to mention two giant store bags carring the last odds and ends of the girls' stuff that aren't even pictured. Needless to say it too me several trips. And being loaded down like a pack animal I was anything but inconspicious.
It was funny as I tried as unobtrusively as possible to sneak back into the kids’ classes and put the boys’ treats in the cubbies. This school actually seems to breed precocious, inquisitive, and talkative children. Particularly the girls. And several of them came over to see what I was doing. I shooed them back to their work and after putting the last of the boys’ boxes in tried to sneak back out the door. Two of the little girls headed me off and asked ever so politely if I needed help carrying anything else in, as their cubbies still sat auspiciously empty. I assured them that I had not forgotten them and would be back in a little while with their treats, too. Once all the girls’ treats has been assembled and put in the cubbies I was heading out for the last time and Ellie, one of the little girls in Ryan’s class came over and asked sadly if she was going to be getting a treat, because there was still nothing in her cubby. Her cubby had been filled to the brim and there simply hadn’t been room to put anything in it so I had put hers up on the very top and mentioned to the teacher as I was leaving that 2 in fact had had to be put on top as there just wasn’t room and to please mention it to the kids’ parents at pick up time. When I told her that of course she was getting a treat, and pointed it out up on top of the cubbies she was estatic. I actually manged to pick the boys up slightly early (i.e. before the nick of closing time) and there were still several kids there. Ellie came running up beaming and drinking out of her snowman cup to thank me again, for such wonderful treats. It was so sweet I almost cried. :)
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