Not Too Shabby Darling: This One Is For The Teachers...

School is out! Yay! I made it through another year of getting my 4 kids to 3 different schools! I get to sleep in!

Wait...wait a sec...I also have to feed my kids 3 times a day. Actually 6-8 times a day. (You other moms know what I'm talking about.) Oh. And I have to listen to, "Mom, she took my..." and, "Mom, can I..." and, "Mom, when are you coming out of the bathroom?" Those things won't be abnormal, but they will increase. Exponentially.

Seriously though. I love my kids more than anything! I also love the teachers that pushed, prodded, cajoled, and loved my girls into learning this year. Both my girls had awesome teachers. My teenage boys I'm sure did too. They just don't tell me anything. I have taken the approach that if they are passing their classes, all is well.

I had the opportunity to volunteer 2-3 hours per week in my third grader's class. This is not normal for me. I'm the kind of parent that will do things at home for the teachers. Like grading papers and cutting things out. But, somehow, Mrs. P got me to help out faithfully every week of the school year. Mrs. P is amazing. Those kids listen to her, stay on task, stay organized, know what to expect each day, and know what is expected of them. They also had a lot of fun experiences. I got to work with each of the students, passing things off, playing with clothespin dolls, building a town, practicing lines for class programs, etc. It was an adventure every week! I learned to love these kids and got to know their personalities. I also noticed something else. Everyone was friends with everyone. Ev-er-y-one. These kids played together as a class at recess. They supported each other's accomplishments. I never heard them bad-mouthing each other. It was awesome and beautiful! Only once in a blue moon does this kind of camaraderie collide into one class. I am so very sad that next year won't be the same.

So, what kind of gift can you give a teacher like Mrs. P to thank her for all she has done? I wanted it to be something personal. Something to remind her of this amazing group of kids. I came up with this:

The Shel Silverstein poem is a class favorite. They performed their end-of-year program with zebras as the theme.

I gathered the kids and they picked from orange, green, or purple paint to add their thumbprints to a white board. The colors are Mrs. P's favorites.

I added the poem and then turned the thumbprints into zebras. This took some thinking! Each print had to speak to me and tell me what to make it. Luckily, my daughter Faith is an artist. She took over and came up with some super cute zebras!

You may have noticed the mouse in the top right corner. That is Sammy the Rat. He is a character in the book, Witches by Roald Dahl, that the class read together at the first of the year. Sammy wanted to go to school to learn, so the class voted to let him stay. He had his own desk and everything!