Valentine Party Update

I'm doing that thing where I avoid stuff again. Argh. This time it's due to sleep deprivation. Bleh. Perky, grumpy Skeptic not getting enough sleep!

ANYWAY! :) On to UN-avoiding some stuff-- like BLOG UPDATES!!!

February was a big month in the Perky Household. LOTS of kid activities and parental stress! But it's all done, and it all went well!!! So, I am emotionally recovering from the rollercoaster, LOL!

The first Big Worrisome Event was The VALENTINE'S DAY PARTY at my son's class! I was asked to do an approximately fifteen-minute crafts project with the kids-- not so easy, because they range in functionality from full-blown inability to participate to Asperger, and the crafts portion of the party was at 3:00 in the afternoon (which is exactly the time when anyone with a touch of autism starts to feel REALLY WONKY), and at 2:30 the kids had gotten loaded up with chocolates, frosted sugar cookies with sprinkles, fruit punch, lollipops, candy hearts and CUPCAKES AS FAR AS THE EYE COULD SEEeeeeeeeeeee! --I'd like everyone to take a moment to picture the scene. Yeeeeesssss. :)

So, I had decided, thanks to some suggestions from Cyberlizard and other friends, to deploy paper doily hearts and rubber stamps! In preparation, I cut and glued a backing of heart-shaped blue construction paper to each doily. Then for enhanced tactile-ness, I bought some red sheets of that sticky-backed craft foam that you can cut in shapes and stick, and I cut large red hearts out of it. My final prep was to buy stamp-pads pre-inked with WASHABLE ink. ;) So, all the kids had to do was peel the paper off the big red hearts and stick them onto the construction-paper-backed heart-shaped doilies, and then we would rubber-stamp happy valentine decorations onto the big red heart! I made a Sample Valentine to show the kids what the finished effect would be, and to assure myself that this entire project wasn't ill-thought-out and impossible. ;)

After the VALENTINE CAKE AND CANDY ORGY, Mr. H announced me to the class (they all know me, but this is the first time I had ever done a project with them). The class was anything BUT ready to give me their undivided attention. They were all really happy, but EB had wandered over to the bookshelf and was rocking. P was at the table, but she had zoned out. T was at the table but inattentive. My own Wonderful Son was bouncing in place and flapping. ET had sat down at the table but was on the verge of fighting with S over a foam-rubber letter B. So the first thing I did was gently extricate the B and say, "I've got something you can each hold in your hands!" and gave them each a foam-rubber heart. ET was less than enthralled, but it sufficed. Then I handed out the backed doilies-- more interest! Pulling the backing off the hearts to stick them onto the doilies was practically a project in itself, and it was tackled with gusto by all. But when I unveiled the rubber stamps, that's when they REALLY got interested!!!

THINGS TO TOUCH!!! THINGS WITH LETTERS! AND NUMBERS!! AND WORDS!!! AND PICTURES!!!!! One of the more generally unresponsive kids actually came over to the front of the table and began methodically stamping every square inch of his red heart, as happy as a clam! My son saw the letters and IMMEDIATELY asked, "May I have a D-A-D?" :) :) :) Everyone seemed to enjoy it; even P seemed to enjoy watching. EB was content to rock, and I had no problem letting him. S got super-hyper when he learned the stamps would put pictures on human skin. Yes, thank goodness for washable ink! S asked everyone if they wanted a stamp, and he gave out many stamp-tattoos. This was soon insufficient, and S became a STAMP-NINJA, stealing every opportunity to stamp his classmates! T (who is the biggest eight-year-old I have EVER SEEN) did not appreciate this, and gave S a shove. S was undeterred, so we had to separate them when T whirled S around and stamped "HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!" on the back of his shirt. (I admit, I could not help but chuckle.)

Then the rubber aspect of the rubber stamps was noted, and T started flinging the stamps around the room to watch them bounce-- which they did... really well. It was kind of fascinating, really. Wonderful Son went back to flapping while bouncing in place, and ET got cantankerous and kept trying to take stuff other kids were using. But by this time, everyone had made their valentine, and it was time to go home! WHEE!!! Perfect timing on all counts, really. ;) The kids even helped me pick up all the stamps and put them back in the box, and would you believe, EVERY single letter made it back home!

It was a great time, and fun was had by all-- which is, after all, the point!