Walk The Plank

This Saturday, Number One Son hosted a pirate party for some of his friends. Since he has a summer birthday, Lady Di thought it would be nice to invite some of N1S's new 3rd grade classmates to a pre-Halloween Pirate Party. N1S's guest list included everyone from his class, everyone from his Sunday school class and a few others. Since we are not related to Johnny Depp, and his bank account, we whittled the list down to eight close friends which eventually grew to twelve.

Lady Di was in charge of the food. I tackled the games and decorations. We had pizza and cupcakes. Typical kid party food. Since this wasn't actually N1S's birthday, we just wanted the kids to eat and play games. A few guests brought gifts anyway, much to N1S's delight.

We started the Pirate Party off with a good, old fashioned vest decorating. What? You haven't heard of that before? Well, Lady Di had this great idea. She got some black material on clearance and sewed it into twelve or so simple vests. Then we got some glue guns and a tub of Gramma Ollie's multi-colored beads and let the kids decorate their vests with 'pirate jewels'. Some kids were really into placing their beads in certain patterns and certain colors. Others tried to see how long of a glue strand they could get all over themselves. Once the vests were properly adorned, and glue gun burns properly bandaged (my own), we brought out the paper bags for the treasure hunt. The kids used markers to write their names on the bags. Most of the boys also drew skeletons and various pirate themed pictures on their bags, many with realistic bloody battles. With an emphasis on the blood.

Once the bags were done, it was pizza time. I prepared the treasure hunt while the kids were chowing down. We had around nine stations set up in the backyard with a clue and a pirate prize at each one. As the boys found each clue, they got to put a prize in their bag. We divided the boys into teams of three. While one team worked on the hunt, we tried to entertain the rest of the group with a game of Simon Says. We were immediately informed that Simon Says is no longer the 'in' game. The boys taught us a game called, "I Love You Honey, But I Just Can't Smile". You basically stand in a circle and say to the person next to you, "I love you Honey, but I just can't smile". If the person who is listening smiles, they have to sit down. A couple of the boys couldn't even keep a straight face before they heard the first word. When it was N1S's turn he said, "I love you Honey......, what was I supposed to say again?" The best player at the party was his sister Sweet Pea. She stared stone faced at the third grader next to her, daring him to make her smile. She is going to be trouble for the boys in Junior High, I'm afraid.

Once all the teams had located the treasure, we had to do something else with the unruly mob. It's amazing how fast those games go when third grade boys play them. The games seemed to last a lot longer on paper.

Anyway, the next game was 'tie an apple on a string and see who can bite it first without using their hands'. Can you tell I don't know the real name for this game. About three of the boys had mouths big enough to bite half of the apple. The good thing was that almost every boy wanted to finish his apple regardless if they won or not. At least they got something healthy that day.

Our last game of the evening was 'Walk the Plank'. You can't have a pirate party without that. We blindfolded each boy and led each one around the yard to a long board plank. One end of the plank was elevated about six inches. It is supposed to seem a lot higher when you are blindfolded. When the boy would reach the end of the plank I would yell 'jump' and would usually have to nudge them off a little. I would say about half of the boys were fooled.

After the plank it was group picture time and then cupcakes. Luckily, we had just enough activities planned to reach the time that parents started showing up. The parents got to see their fine young boys racing around with cupcake highs, trying to skewer each other with their new plastic pirate daggers. I'm sure we impressed.

We didn't want to throw another birthday party. We just wanted a party for N1S and some of his old and new friends. He got to get some peer interaction practice and hopefully, his friends got to know him a little better. The party seemed to be a success, as all of the boys pretty much got along. They all participated in all of the games. We paired up boys differently for each game and they all seemed to enjoy themselves.

This would be fun to do again next year. I will have to think up something a little more scary than 'walk the plank' though. And the treasure hunt will definitely involve some sort of monster jumping out of something. And probably more blood too.

Have a Good Day

This is the first year that both munchkins go to school all day. Number One Son is entering third grade and his sister, Sweet Pea, is attending all day Kindergarten this fall. Is it possible to experience 'empty nest syndrome' before they move out? Whenever the house is empty and quiet, it is just another reminder of how fast they are both growing up. It has been nine years since we haven't had a young one in the house. N1S was just starting school when Sweet Pea was born. Now she will be riding the bus too.

N1S got to start school today. His little sister gets to start her learnin' tomorrow. The bus comes at 6:40am. It is dark when we get up and the sun is just starting to awake up when we go out to wait for the bus. We will need flashlights when winter comes. Even though it was early, N1S got right up and picked up where he left off last school year. He got dressed, ate a cereal bar, brushed his teeth and sat out on the porch to wait. N1S likes routines and this is the exact same order he got ready to last year.

When the bus came, N1S gave the driver some muffins that Lady Di had made the night before. It doesn't hurt to 'grease the wheels' a little at the beginning of the year. We actually do things like that because N1S is more comfortable if he knows people well. Baked goods break the ice and the drivers usually remember him for it. They also appreciate a little pick me up on the first day.

N1S came home after school today with a big smile on his face.
"That was excellent!", he proclaimed, walking up the driveway. This was somewhat unusual. In years past, when we would ask him how his first day was, he would grunt, "OK I guess". Further questioning by Lady Di or myself would glean like answers.
"Do you like your teacher?"

"Yup"

"Did you make any new friends?"

"Yup"

"What are their names?"

"Idunno"

"What was for lunch?"

"Ummmmm....I forget."


"Did you really go to school, or just fall asleep in the bathroom until it was time to come home?"

"Ummmmm....I forget."

This year he was really excited coming home from school. I think he was mostly proud of meeting a new friend. People who know N1S, know that he sometimes struggles with initiating and sustaining friendships. He said he met a kid who really likes Harry Potter, and I guess they talked in English accents all day. I'm sure the lunch ladies were impressed. When Lady Di asked N1S his new friend's name, he actually knew it. And he didn't say Dumbledore.

At supper time, it was my turn to ask him about his day. He told me about his friend. He told me what he had for lunch. (mini corn dogs) He even told me about the book that the teacher read to them.

Is this what I can expect from third grade? Is N1S finally turning a corner in his development and/or maturity and paying more attention to his surroundings? Or did he simply have a good day at school. I don't really care why my son had a good day at school. I just care that he had one. I know everyday won't be golden, but I would like to see that most of them are. He is off to a pretty good start.

We also were notified that he was accepted into the accelerated math program at school. N1S loves math and numbers. He likes to figure out different ways to solve problems and rearrange numbers. He doesn't always like to do math homework though. Maybe I can get him to balance the checkbook.

His sister, Sweet Pea was accepted into the accelerated speaking program at her Kindergarten. She will have no problem keeping up with this. She is definitely not the shy one and would love to tell you why. I asked her if she was excited for kindergarten. She said, "Yeah, and we will be getting lunch!" I guess lunch at school for the first time would be cool. She has actually joined her brother for lunch at his school before but I think she really is looking forward to being with her class.

Tomorrow, Sweet Pea invades kindergarten. I can't wait to hear all about her day.