Grinches & Elves!

Okay, peeps.

Yesterday, I posted a sneak peek of the project I was making for Little Man’s classroom door, so heeeeere’s the finished product!

Squeeeee!

I think it turned out so stinking cute, but it was a helluva lot of work! Way more than I anticipated when I volunteered to help.

First and foremost, I ended up with green Grinch fur alllllll over my ktichen and living room.

Second, it was insanely tricky to create this door decoration at home, based on the measurements I’d taken up at school.

And third, the time and materials and blast radius of crafting items were…significant. On a day when my boy was still home sick and I had a mountain of other things to be doing. 

HOWEVER.

It all paid off, tenfold, and here’s why:

When I showed up at school today (with the help of the hubby to carry the darn thing in), my boy practically bowled me over with a gigantic hug, in front of all his classmates.

Now.

To hammer home the significance of this event, let’s rewind to a school fundraiser I attended a while back, when my son pretty much ghosted me when I tried to get his attention.

He barely waved, with his hand down at his side, and kind of tried to pretend he didn’t see me.

UGH.

Then later that evening, when I causally brought it up like it was no biggie (I’m not crying, you’re crying), he suggested a high five or a fist bump when I next saw him at school.

A fist bump???

A fist bump????

First grade, and already too mature to give his Mama a hug in public!?!?

What happened to my snuggle bug Mama’s boy, who used to luuuuurv me???

Of course, I played it cool, cool, cool.

Whatevs.

Fist bump?

Sure.

Meanwhile, my Mama heart shriveled up inside.

But, today. Today, he gave me a MASSIVE, public hug!!! And, better still: when I was wrapping up my work and heading out, his class was returning from lunch, and I got more unsolicited hugs. BIG ONES.

To be straight: I don’t care one single iota if he was just hugging me because his buddies were ooohing and ahhhhing over the door so he wanted to stake his claim. I was his cool, crafty Mama. Ha.

Who cares?!!!

I’ll buy his affection any which way I can get it!!

If kneeling on my hardwood floor for hours, killing my back and laboring over this dang thing was what it took…I’d do it a million times over!

Amen, Halleluiah.

So…door decoration victory—with the added bonus to of seeing all the kiddos’ joyful reactions when they returned from lunch. They went nuts, and every last one of them wanted to pet the Grinch fur as they passed by, ha.

Mission.

Accomplished.



Now.

I’m sorry to say that I’m uuuuuuuber tired, and tomorrow, I have to turn my attention toward decorating Chica’s classroom, as I’m the actual room representative for her class, and not Little Man’s, ha.

At some point, I’ll get a breather from this plethora of projects and extras!

In the meantime…despite the wonky week we’ve had, and our general household exhaustion, the kiddos begged (like, literally begged and bartered) to attend a school family movie night event this evening. An indoor gymnasium screen of Elf.

And while I really wanted to say no, I knew it would mean a lot to them.

So…off we packed a million blankets and sleeping bags and food to-go, and the kiddos had the time of their lives.

But first, to earn their movie night, my three crazies cleaned up the playroom faster than they ever have in their lives, and then they maintained top-notch behavior whilst helping me decorate the playroom tree.  ;)

Then…off to school we went! With allll our gear.



The event turned out to be a smashing success, and I’m actually really glad we attended.

Each of the kiddos had groups of friends in attendance, and they happily staked out their spots with their buddies, ate and played and watched, and had the best time. 



A good bit of holiday cheer, for sure.

Now…off for a few solitary minutes of reading before regrouping for a final busy weekday tomorrow.

Our crew is totally ready to get this Thanksgiving break started!

More mañana.

Over and out.