Room Mom 9 - 1- 1

I am so thankful that last week is over! Being the room mom kicks my you-know-what!
This is the thing...I didn't sign up to be room mom!! I knew better. I have suffered through it before and made a conscious decision to not sign up. I made the mistake of being room mom when AA was in kindergarten at AEEC. I hate to say it, but here it goes: it should have been a paid position! Or at least they could have warned me! I had no idea I'd have to hire a babysitter 20 hours a week for my younger 3 so that I could ride around Auburn each week looking for refrigerator boxes so that AA's class could build the Empire State Building (I'm not kidding) and a mock airplane to take them there. I had no idea that my husband would have to have a degree in engineering so that he could help build the Empire State Building and build several pumpkin shaped bean bag toss games. "Games" doesn't make the impact that I want it to. These were huge pieces of plywood that were cut out and painted to resemble huge Jack - o- Lanterns. So big that when we moved, we left them at our old house, along with the trampoline and swing set. You get the picture?

And when AA was in first grade, I was forced to sign up AGAIN. I didn't want to , but no one else did. So I signed my name on the bottom line. I didn't know I'd have to fix a Thanksgiving Feast for 20 students, plus parents and grandparents...by myself. You see, I am too unorganized to delegate. So I end up doing it all by myself at the last minute. Then everyone oohs and aahs and says, "You make it look so easy. How do you do it all?" If they only knew! Do it ALL? Are you kidding me? They haven't seen my house! Or my car! Or my kitchen! Or the pile of laundry!
HELP!

So this year, I checked to be sure that someone else had signed up ...they had! I did a victory dance right then and there! But about 2 weeks ago, AA's sweet teacher asked me what I had planned for the Halloween,oops, I mean "Fall" party. I know had that "deer in the headlights" look. "Um. Well. What do you mean," I sheepishly asked. "Well, Ms. Smith, one of the other parents, asked if we had plans for a fall party and I told her to check with the room mom. Has she called you yet?" NOOOOOO!
I think. But instead I say, "No ma'am. What would you like?" So she says, "Something sweet, something salty, something to drink, and a treat bag." I leave there completely deflated. I know what this means. This means I will be bringing - all by myself because I'm too unorganized to delegate- something sweet, something salty, something to drink, and 20 treat bags. How did this happen? Do I have "Room Mom" written across my forehead?!?! I think I do.

So last Monday rolls around and I think, "O.K. The party is Friday. I have plenty of time." Wednesday comes. I start baking cupcakes. Thursday comes. I run to Hobby Lobby to buy googly eyes and white paper bags to make ghost treat bags. Why can't I just buy some cupcakes from Kroger and be done with it?! Why can't I buy some tacky cellophane treat bags like everyone else?!? WHY do I have to make this so complicated?!?! The trip to Hobby Lobby was successful . I leave with white bags and googly eyes. I even managed to find candy eyeballs for the spider cupcakes that are too cute! Thursday afternoon. I can't find my glue gun to glue the googly eyes on to the white bags. I offer each child $5 if they can bring mommy her glue gun. No luck. You're kidding! I have 3 glue guns...where are they? (By the way, I now have 4). So ...it's okay. I'll deal with the glue gun later. I tackle the cupcakes. I have the cupcakes already baked, the icing, the eyeballs, the Twizzlers ready to be cut unto spider legs. I ice the cupcakes and put the eyeballs and legs on and I am so pleased. They are my little spider friends. But AA walks in and says, "Mom, I can't bring those to school. The eyeballs have peanut butter in them." What!?!? I forgot that she was in a peanut free classroom. "It's O.kay," I tell myself, "they are just cupcakes." Thursday night was Trick-or-Treating in our town so I had to stop what I was doing anyway and focus on the witch, the Georgia football player, the cheerleader, and of course, Gabriella. Fast forward to Friday morning. The kids have a parade at school. I forgot to mention that AA was supposed to be a First Lady from the 1700's in her school's Election Day parade. I forgot to mention the 2nd trip to HobbyLobby to pick up fabric to make her the First Lady costume. So now it's Friday. We make it to the parade. I sped from the parade to Hobby Lobby for the third time in 2 days. I purchase a new glue gun and some glue sticks. I make it home in time to glue the eyes on the bags. Oh good...life will go on. We make it to school with all the goodies. Along the way, several people stop to admire and comment on the goody bags and spider cupcakes. I just smile and pretend to have it all together. Then I get to AA's room and take all of the peanut butter filled eyeballs off the cupcakes. It was depressing. I tell M about it later. He says, "why didn't you just go to Kroger and buy some cupcakes from the bakery." He just doesn't get it.

P.S. I am no longer the room mom. Several moms had e-mailed me during the week to ask if there was going to be a Halloween, I mean, FALL party. I kept thinking, "Why didn't YOU sign up to be room mom?!" Finally, at the party on Friday, I was able to pass the torch to a mom who had never been room mom before. Bless her heart!