Valentines Day!

I know it's not actually til tomorrow, but since the kids celebrated it at school, J got his present last Saturday (shoes), and I got mine yesterday (35 roses. Why 35? Not clear on this), I will blog about it today.

A good 6 weeks ago, the room mom for M's class asked if I would help with the valentines' day party. I said I would be happy to help, and I was volunteered to do the craft, as my Halloween Craft was a big success.

I decided to have the kids make "love bugs". To do this, I mixed up a batch of plaster of paris (2 c. plaster, 1 c. water), and made little spoonfuls using plastic spoons. I let them dry, and they popped right out of the plastic spoons. Then, I let them dry for a couple hours (in hindsight, I wished I'd made the bug bodies the day before so they were totally dry). Brought them into school, and had the kids paint them with watercolors. Once that was dry, they glued googly eyes on with school glue. Those who wanted (and that was every single girl, and most of the boys) put glitter on them as well, with more school glue. I thought they turned out really cute.

Something happened with K's class this morning that was really touching to me. K has been having trouble with a boy in her class named J. There is some weird arranged marriage situation in class (don't ask, it's incomprehensible to anyone outside of 5th grade), and J is her arranged husband. Because of said arrangement, he goes out of his way to harass her so that nobody thinks he *really* likes her. Yesterday, she brought her class list home so she could make valentines for the party today. She immediately noticed that J's name was missing from the list. After cackling evilly for a few minutes, her kinder nature prevailed, and she made him a valentine.

This morning, we got 6 phone calls from kids in the class, telling her that J's name was left off the list, and to make sure she brought a valentine for him. She also got in on the action, and called three or four girls in the class. I was really touched that all these kids were that concerned about making sure this boy got valentines today, even though he is a typical 5th grade boy, and therefore, the bane of the typical 5th grade girl's existance. K reported after school that everyone did remember to bring J a valentine, so trouble was averted.