Storytime At My Son's School

Today, I had the privilege of going into my son’s school to make the day special for his birthday.  Since cupcakes are now not permitted in school – which upsets me on so many levels, I grew up eating cupcakes when kids had birthdays and I turned out healthy – parents are invited in to read a story and do a craft with the students to make the birthday student feel special.  When I first spoke to the teacher about my son’s birthday, she said that parents usually come in and read their child’s favorite story.  Well, the stories my son really likes take fifteen minutes or more to read and since I only had a half hour, I wouldn’t have had time to do a craft afterwards.  Besides – I have taught pre-k – most kids that young do not have an attention span that lasts more than five minutes – ten if you are super animated and have a pinch of luck.  So, while I was trying to figure out what story I could read to make the day special, my son asked me if I would tell his class a story that I wrote just for him.  Since I can’t draw, I took some of my photos and fiddled around with them on photoshop  so the students would have something to anchor their focus.  I took pictures from Philadelphia, Denmark, China and Argentina to take the class on a mini-tour of the world – something my son is very accustomed to when it comes to my stories.  Anyway, he was super excited when the class came back from gym and he saw me setting up my props.  Running up to me, he gave me a big hug and didn’t want to let go.  Of course, the story was not new to him so he interrupted practically every sentence, but hey, he knew what was going to happen next and couldn’t contain his enthusiasm – and I wouldn’t have wanted him to, it was his day after all.  I’ve told him many stories and I’m not sure I ever saw him so happy to hear one.  The class paid attention and laughed when they were supposed to so I think they enjoyed the story as well.  Over all, my first attempt at sharing a story that I wrote went very well.  When the story was over, my son announced to the class that the story was his “own story.”  He then came up to me and said, “I love you, Mama.”  Well, that alone made the entire experience worth it.  He may be my only fan, but he’s the best fan I could have.