It only happens once a year. . .

and now I know why! We had our Halloween, excuse me, I mean, Fall party at school today! What craziness! I have never seen 14 people so excited. When all of those people happen to be 4 it is even a bigger deal. Even though the party itself was only about 35 minutes long, it seemed like the thought of it consumed the entire day. After we established who everyone was dressed as, it was time to take our bathroom break. The idea here is to go ahead and make them go so you are not faced with a I-have-to-go-now-and-I-don't-think-I-can-wait-until-you-get-the-2-layers-of-clothes-and-awkward-costumes-off-my-body crisis. For the most part this technique seemed to work. By the time that was done, it was time for lunch and the party. It seemed a little anti-climactic since the thought of the party was way better than the actual party. After filling them full of sugar, the next trick was to get them to lay down for "rest" time. We only needed long enough to clean up from the festivities, pack their stuff, and go to the bathroom. We decided to let them keep their costumes on since they would be leaving soon. To one child this became his incentive. We explained that he could keep his costume on if he promised to be quiet and rest. (Hey, it might work.) Well of course it didn't work. He continued to talk and we continued to threaten. Finally, I gave him one last warning, "If I have to tell you again to be quiet, you're going to have to take your clothes off." Yes, I actually said those words. I didn't realize how they sounded until my co-teacher started cracking up. I'm sure the "child safety committee" would get a kick out of that. Yes, I did end up making him take off his costume. He had on shorts and a t-shirt under it though. I think the only person that had a longer day than us was the girls' teacher. Somehow I think bathroom breaks are a bit harder with 8 potty training 2 yr olds in costumes. But they are so cute! I hope everyone has a great Halloween and gets their fill of kids in cute costumes and candy!