One Secret to a Working Mom's Success: Keep Standing

Me, standing in Barbados Those of us who live our lives out loud on the internet subject ourselves to scrutiny. Some comment, "Nobody's life is perfect. These posts must be fake," Those making those comments might even be close to us because they "know our business" and they whisper and gossip and say, "she's so fake".  To those who may read my blog and make such comments, (the trolls) know that I hear you, see you, and completely disagree. 

How An Average Working Mom Rocked Snack Day

Disney Added Extra Fun to Snack Day

Nearly every working mom worries that they are going to mess up big with their kid because of her work schedule. When I was a kid, my mom struggled to remember what time our activities ended. I judged her harshly until a few weeks ago when my schedule changed and Wednesday felt like Thursday. So, I found myself at a farewell party with a drink in my hand instead of picking my daughter up at ballet school. I left that party mid-conversation. In case you were wondering, I was the mom sprinting down Fifth Avenue in a dress, frantically calling another mom on my cell phone in fear that my daughter would be in tears when I arrived. Instead of tears, she was all smiles thanks to Julia Allan, the other mom, that I now call "Saint Julia".

That story is an example of what happens when things go awry. However, the standard school calendar can also cause anxiety. In my case, the monthly snack day was a source of stress, until I rocked snack day like a boss. Then, I became my daughter's hero!


Snack Day Is a Big Deal In Kindergarten


My daughter school has a rotating snack day calendar where each kid is assigned a day where he/she is responsible for bringing a snack to share with the class. For some reason, since she started kindergarten, my daughter has been obsessed with the snack calendar. And her snack day is her favorite day of the month.

No pressure, right?


The snack bags

With a Little Effort, Snack Day Can Become a Party!


Well I was feeling good about my regular contributions to snack day until I looked online. It was Pinterest that got me. It was a Facebook post from a law school friend down in South Carolina. Haven attended law school in South Carolina I can tell you that anything can be a cause for a celebration. Apparently, snack day is no different.

Well in the aforementioned Facebook post, I learned that they're taking snack day to another level Down South. My friend, Carmen Sessions, posted a photo of a snack she prepared where she configured the bag to look like a butterfly. Her's was more than just a snack. It was an art form.

Indeed, she put my prior contributions--plain apples and peanut butter, Pirate's Booty, and baked chips--to shame. I imagined Carmen's daughter arriving at school with those little butterflies and being the star of snack day. And I decided I wanted my daughter to be a star too.

So...like the competitive little mama that I am, I vowed to take it up a notch. Recognizing my limitations--both time and skill, I knew not to overshoot by trying to recreate the butterflies. Instead, I decided to give my regular snacks some pizzazz. I paid $2.00 for 50 party snack bags from the Dollar Store. It was the best money I have ever spent. And, those snack bags tuned an ordinary snack day into an event! They were a hit and I even got a thank you note from the teacher!

It was hard to get a smile this AM and make it to school!

So, since I did it once, I had to do it again--especially since I had left over bags from the first time. So, when my snack day opportunity presented itself again, I pulled out the rest of those party bags and got to work. Inside was a snack mix of 1) Cheetos, 2) Raisinets, 3) Pretzel Sticks, 4) Cheese Crackers, and 5) Nuts. It wasn't an organic snack day, but it wasn't too sugar laden either. The pretzel sticks were actually in largest supply, despite my daughter's objections. The other things were kind of like garnishes.

Putting the bags together kept me up till midnight since I didn't get started until my other chores were done. Still. it was effort well spent.

The moral? All it takes is a little peer pressure, a dollar and a dream to turn snack day into a p-a-r-t-y!

Comments