Mother's Day Tea at Preschool

Today, all of the mommies got invited to preschool to have "tea" with our preschoolers in their classroom. We were told to leave siblings at home so that we could have a special mommy/child time. I had no idea how to dress, so I recalled the first day of preschool when we dropped our kids off and then sat in the library for an hour having coffee. That day, I realized that I shouldn't have shown up in jeans and a t-shirt. I needed Versace. Perhaps a few more diamonds. And definitely a trendy handbag. So I dressed up today. Turns out that wasn't necessary. I guess the first day of school there is some kind of unspoken "bring out your bling" that I didn't know about. Elisabeth approved of my dress, though. She said, "Mommy, you wore a very pretty outfit today!" So I guess that is all that matters. Here's a picture of the two of us in her classroom.

We entered the room and the kids sang two songs to us. Then they presented us with tissue paper flower corsages. Then we all sat down around a big table and had a feast. There was jello, cheese, crackers, muffins, cookies, and fruit salad. No tea, but there was lemonade, water, and apple juice. After all of this, we also got presents from our preschoolers. They made coasters for us with their little thumbprints on them, and a flower pot with a paper tulip growing out of it. Then it was circle time (stories and songs) and then we got to go home.

It was such a wonderful time. And then, well, then I looked at the flower Elisabeth made for me. It is a "sad flower." Elisabeth said she made it that way to make me laugh - and laugh I did. The card that Elisabeth made for me? It has a drawing of Doug on it. I'm half relieved (because if my hair really looks like the picture, I need a new hairdresser) and half humorously irritated. Why are mothers chopped liver when compared to fathers, grandparents, neighbors, garbage collectors? Here's a picture of my haul (note the frowny tulip) and a picture of the inside of my card.

One of Elisabeth's teachers pulled me aside and said, "Elisabeth tells us about the bar exam all the time. She really enjoyed that trip a lot. She has a lot of stories about the escalators." This is just a reminder to not waste the money on expensive vacations. Just take your kid to a hotel with an escalator. She fell down the escalator, she told me today. She cried a little, apparently. I'm glad I didn't see it. I hate escalators.

The rest of the day Elisabeth spent asking me when I was going to give her a present. She insists that her teacher told her the mommies were giving their kids presents for mothers day. I think she hears what she wants to hear. The word present is mentioned and she just files that into the "oh yay, I get presents" section of her brain.

It was really fun to see Elisabeth in her classroom. She has some cute little friends. She was very excited to show me the books in her classroom. I found it interested how reserved she was though. I am assuming it was the presence of the other parents, because her teachers have told me that she is "enthusiastic." And other mothers have told me that when they've popped in Elisabeth is the cruise director of the class.

When we got back to the car, Elisabeth climbed in and looked over into Charlotte's seat and was absolutely horrified that Charlotte wasn't there. I guess she thought I just left Charlotte in the car? I really do try to earn my mother of the year stripes, but not that hard.