Wrapping Up the School Year

The First Day of School - Sept 2010

This is one of my favourite times of year; we are on the cusp of a new season and with it comes new routines, new opportunities, and new shenanigans.  Suddenly, I find myself with all this extra time to do the things I want to with the kids since our afternoons are no longer filled with the demands of homework and piano practice.  FREEDOM!!

Last night as I was dozing off to sleep, I thought about all the things my children accomplished this year, and I was so proud of them.  Zoe trained with the provincial soccer team throughout the winter, she placed in the top ten for the District 6 math competition, and, just recently, she overcame her fear of performing on the piano in public, which developed after a negative experience at the Music Festival a few years back  . . . eeek!  She was also faced with many decisions that asked her to compromise on her beliefs, but she stood firm and stayed true to herself.  Sometimes, I wish I was as strong as Zoe!  In fact, the other day at the kids' Year-End recital, a friend of mine commented that Zoe is very classy for a thirteen year old and, unlike most children her age, she seems so sure of herself.  I am such a proud mama!

Elliot also had a great year even though it started out a bit rocky.  In the first two weeks of school, Elliot had three different teachers, and for my boy, who thrives on routine, this was a nightmare!  Fortunately, things did eventually settle down and he got back into his groove.  This was the year that Elliot finally received an "A" in reading, accomplished his goal of getting an "A" in math, scored his first goal in a hockey game, which is tricky when you play defence, and mastered the art of drawing ninjas.  Again, I am such a proud mama!

It has been quite the year for Avery as well.  He started out this school year with the goal of not being sent to the Principal's office, and he almost attained it, but he made the unfortunate decision to draw a picture of a graveyard with all of his friends' names on the tombstones, while he was at Friendship Club  . . . ooops!  Avery found it quite funny, but his teacher, whose son's name happened  to be on one of the tombstones, did not.  So just a week after he had won his horny unicorn, or I mean "Horny" the unicorn, in his class' kindness contest, Avery was banned from Friendship Club for the remainder of the year.  There was also that call home from the Principal after Avery was caught making prank phone calls to the school, and then there was . . . oh wait, I am supposed to be listing all of  his accomplishments not his infamous antics.  Let's start over:

Avery had a wonderful year! He lost his first tooth, he learned how to ride a horse, and he became a whiz at reading, writing and math.  There, that wasn't so hard.  I am so proud of my baby boy . . .  tee hee! 

What can I say?  I have great kids!

Anyhoo, with the end of the school year quickly approaching, I always get a little anxious over teacher gifts.  Being a teacher myself, I understand all of the hard work that teachers put into their classes each year.  I also want to recognize the valuable contributions that the principals, the bus drivers, and the teacher assistants make.  The key, though, is doing it without spending a fortune!  Luckily for me, I am a blogger and I love to read blogs because I found a great end-of-the-year gift idea at  http://www.71toes.blogspot.com/ , who found it from another blogger.   Since we bloggers like to share, I am going to share the idea with you.  All you have to do is buy a Chinese food take-out box, fill it with fortune cookies, and anything else you may want, and write a little note saying "I was so fortunate to have you as my teacher, bus driver, principal, etc".  Cute, eh?  The kids really enjoyed making them last night as part of our Family Home Evening. No idea what I am talking about?  Check here.

For the classroom teachers,  I found larger boxes and we included fortune cookies, an Indigo gift card (one of my most favourite gifts to receive), and a fizzy bath bomb.  Everyone else got the same thing but in a smaller box and without the gift card : (  I really wish money wasn't an issue!  The kids then wrote three reasons why they think their teachers are special on the card.

But, I think their favourite part of FHE last night was the HUGE jawbreakers that Elliot picked out earlier in the day for their treat.

And, voila, teacher gifts are done for another year!

All in all, it was a pretty fantastic school year here at Shenanigans Inc, and we are eagerly looking forward to an even more fantastic summer!

Happy Last Tuesday Before Summer Vacation!  Only three more sleeps . . .