Parents love to treat the children on the last day of school. I used to let parents send in anything they wanted many years ago to help us celebrate. That was until I encountered the year of the cupcakes! That year will stay planted in my memory forever!
By the time all of the children had arrived that day, the room was abuzz with excitement. I let the children bring in towels, bathing suits, and water toys for our special beach day. I got to school an hour early so I could set up various outside centers that the children could enjoy. There was one center where we had a water balloon toss, another with a wading pool, a water slide and a sprinkler just to name a few.I also recruit parents to help me with the various centers.
One mother dropped her child off and told me that she had picked up two dozen cupcakes for us to enjoy at lunch. I thanked her and set them on the back counter. About fifteen minutes later, another mother showed up with another two dozen chocolate cupcakes. She too wanted to send in a special snack for this special day and thought we would enjoy a special treat. By the end of the first hour, we had amassed approximately twelve dozen cupcakes.... I kid you not. I thought I was in a bakery instead of a classroom.
I knew that I needed to focus on the center outside so I put all the cupcakes on the back counter and we all headed outside. I recall one particular child telling me he had to go back in the classroom to go to the bathroom numerous times. I asked if he was felt alright and he assured me he did.
When we headed back in for snack and a short break, I was surprised to see that we were down to ten dozen cupcakes. I asked my assistant if perhaps another teacher might have taken some since we had such an ample supply but she was unaware of anyone doing so. Well, I am certain that by now you have guessed where the missing cupcakes landed. Checking the trashcan, I found two empty containers and a wad of wrappers in the trash. I looked for the child who had visited the bathroom so often and sure enough, he had a smudge of chocolate frosting on the tip of his nose. I asked him if any other child had joined him in his sneaky venture but he owned up to the fact that he and he alone had consumed the entire two dozen. It made my stomach hurt just to think about it. He insisted he was fine and we headed back outside for more fun. I told him if he had to go to the bathroom again, either I or another adult would accompany him.
At lunch, his mother came and brought the class pizzas. We had no idea she was coming since we had not seen hide nor hair of her the entire school year. It turns out that she worked for a major pizza chain and wanted to surprise us. I told her about the cupcakes and she laughed and concurred that her son's favorite dessert was chocolate cupcakes.
We finished lunch and went back to the classroom for rest time. After a short while, my assistant frantically motioned for me to come over to her desk. There was the same child with a ring of vanilla frosting around his mouth. I was flabbergasted! How could one tiny child consume so many cupcakes? Thankfully, he only got halfway through the vanilla one when she caught him.
As the children were exiting the classroom at the end of the day, this child started down the hall toward his bus and then turned and ran straight back to me. Thinking he wanted another hug, I stretched out my arms only to be met by the contents of his stomach! The cupcakes and pizza had finally caught up with him. I never wore that sundress again!
So funny and memorable! Thanks for the laugh!
It's funny now Edie! You should have seen me that day...ewwwwwww!