Some Days Are Just Good

I was slightly apprehensive about celebrating the Cinco de Mayo with my class today. We have been studying Mexico, so it seemed natural to recognize the holiday, but any time there is a party in my class, things get a little crazy. Nothing memorably bad, just a general sense of queasiness when I contemplate letting them have sugary treats and listen to music that might make them want to (horrors!) get up and dance. But I sucked it up and made some "Mexican" food (sure, you can grind up pork and beans to make refried beans. They won't taste weird at all...), got Joe to find me some good Mexican music, and threw together a last minute pinata. How last minute was it, Charity? It was so last minute, I was drying it out with a hair dryer. Anyway, I hauled all this stuff in and got it ready for the afternoon. I'm glad I did. The kids handled things reasonably well. They sat down when asked, they participated, and they laughed and had fun. Sure, most of them refused to eat the "refried beans", complaining that they looked like poop, but hey, it was hard to argue with them. (I tried to convince them I'd collected it while walking my dog, but they're too old to fall for that kind of thing. I need a new, more gullible set of students.) Letting the students have a go at my crummy pinata was hysterical, and they were happy to learn the Mexican hat dance, which I learned off the internet, so it's questionable how authentic it was. Overall, it was a nice little party, and I'm so glad I just relaxed and let it happen. I've spent a lot of this year stressed out over this class, not knowing how to get them to be quiet for once so I can teach them something, or manage to make sure no one was falling through the cracks in the midst of the craziness. But I realized yesterday that I only have these students for another 35 days or so. I need to enjoy them while I have them. It all goes so quickly.