If you're an old hat at the room mom business, then this post is not for you...
If you're a new room mom, then this might be right up your alley.
Room momming is a lot like parenting. Ideas are passed down by those that have been there. You may have to adapt them to your current situation, but at least you have a place to start.
In our school, room moms are responsible for the 3 class room parties, a hospitality event per grade level for the teachers, and the random signs that need to made, etc. Celebrating the teacher's birthday is an "extra" event. My first year as a room mom in Kindergarten our teacher's birthday was in the summer. Off the hook, right? Not so fast. My wiser and more experienced room mom friends shared with me the "Half Birthday." Aaahhh. I see now, grasshopper.
So in the last few weeks, both of our classes have celebrated HALF BIRTHDAYS for our teachers.
We begin by sending out an email that looks something like this....
(CLICK HERE FOR PRINTABLE VERSION)
Oh! Be sure to include the teacher's "favorites" at the end of the email. It's so helpful for the parents!
Dear Parents,
Mrs. Monkey’s birthday is June 37th. Since we will not be in school then we will celebrate her half birthday on Tuesday, January 29th. We would like to encourage each child to bring a fresh flower and a homemade card to school the morning of the 29th (I will send out a reminder on Sunday the 27th). We will assemble the flowers into a beautiful and colorful bouquet to give to Mrs. Monkey at the beginning of the day. The class will then enjoy an afternoon treat and sing “Happy Birthday”. As always, you are welcome to send gifts in addition to the flowers and cards. I have included Mrs. Monkey’s favorite things.
Thank you so much,
Jennifer Jeniffer (Glen’s Mom) email address
Mrs. Monkey’s favorites list –
Hobbies: cooking, scrap booking, playing/watching sports
Music: Christian and Country
Books: children’s books
Collections: crosses
Places to shop: Target, Charming Charlie’s, Hobby Lobby, Frisco Mercantile
Colors: classroom/ or for her: pink and zebra print, For the home: deep red and browns, aqua blues and browns, lime green and brown
Scents: vanilla, Christmas cookie, or anything not floral related
Restaurants: Maggiano’s, Olive Garden, Palio’s Pizza
Then we get our kit together:
Extra flowers
(Someone will have not have received the email or they will have simply forgotten. I won't have a kid's day ruined just because he's the only one without a flower.)
Extra cards
(See Above)
Bag of markers, pencils and crayons for personalizing extra cards
Enough treats for the class
(My go to is cookies...they're easy for the kids to eat and much less messy than cupcakes. We can only bring store bought items from approved vendors to our school for student consumption.)
Napkins
Scissors
(To trim flowers before adding to vase)
Large Vase
(This is a great use for all of those vases you've been hanging on to.)
The day or two before, send out a reminder email to the parents.
The morning of the half birthday, just get to the school early and help coordinate the kids. Pass out extra flowers and cards as needed. If allowed, walk with the kids to the classroom. Help them arrange the bouquet for their teacher, sing "Happy Birthday," then make a quick exit.
The picture below is from one of our teacher's blogs. She was pretty excited about her special day. I'm so glad because we're all pretty excited to have her as our teacher!
Hope these little pointers help you out in your room mom adventures!
Feel free to share any of your room mom ideas or pointers in the comment section.
I'd LOVE to hear them!!
Smiles!!!
Will share this post with some of the parties found in my sidebar!
