We recently experienced our first preschool Winter Carnival. And, when I say “experienced,” I mean we got up early, dressed in clothes that most would deem inappropriate for the said “carnival,” and headed 2 miles down the road to the same place we go almost every day during the week as if we were attending the most important event of our lives.
Because I had to “work” a shift while there, I knew that Brittain was going to be on her own for a while. The evening before, I sent out a nonchalant email to a few family members informing them of the carnival and inviting them to attend if they chose to do so. I figured that someone would take me up on the offer and be there during my shift to take Brittain around (Dan was working). As my shift time drew closer and I saw no family members in sight, I decided to send a more forceful text, “Where the hell are y’all? Is anyone going to be here?” Aunt SuSu and Mimi arrived just a few minutes later.
I was in charge of the Snow Dig, and I gotta tell ya, this wasn’t the most fun 30 minutes of my life. I longingly watched my dear child walk to the different stations doing things like getting her nails done, participating in a “book walk”, picking a teacher’s pocket for goodies…and many other exciting activities. I was forced to sit in a chair manning a rubbermaid bin with packing peanuts and candy in it. There’s only so many times you can hand a kid a shovel and say, “You gotta dig to the veeeerrrrry bottom” (because the candy inevitably sunk to the bottom). And then when they finally dug up a piece of candy, yell, “Yaaaaaay” as if it was the best thing they’d ever accomplished. I was the happiest person in the world when my replacement arrived. I came close to jumping up and running, screaming, “I’M FREE!!!! I’M FREEEEEE!”
I got to experience a few fun things with Brittain – like getting a butterfly painted on her face. Have you ever seen a sweeter face than this?:
We also decorated a cookie together, which I attempted to balance with everything else I was carrying for about another hour before finally deciding to toss it:
The highlight of the day was definitely when Aunt SuSu, Mimi, and Brittain went to get lunch. I was saving a table for us, and when they arrived back, Brittain had a balloon that I wasn’t sure where it had come from. Right as I was about to ask, she accidentally let go of the balloon and it swiftly went to the top of the very tall ceilings in the fellowship hall.
Naptime + losing a balloon = this:
As if this scene wasn’t enough, if you turned your head slightly you would then see Aunt SuSu balancing on a stool, holding a fork, attempting to “rescue” the balloon while Mimi stood below her waiting for her to lose her balance and be there to catch her. If all eyes weren’t on us when Brittain lost the balloon, all eyes were DEFINITELY on us now. I stood there, frozen, praying to God that somehow all of these people wouldn’t realize that I belonged to this group I was hanging around with. Fortunately, SuSu rescued the balloon, so everyone was able to resume eating, and Brittain was a happy child again.
I will tell you at this point that this entire scenario happened one more time. And SuSu risked her life a second time to rescue the balloon for Brittain. I guess I never have to wonder what she would do if Brittain were in real, ACTUAL danger. She’s got our back. No doubt about that.
These next two pictures I took were clearly after the meltdowns occurred. The second one especially cracks me up. Brittain has such a sweet smile on her face, but when I look closely I almost think she might be saying, “Don’t you DARE let that balloon go again or very bad things will happen to you.”
Oh! Never mind. That’s what I was saying!!!!!
