Today was beach day at my son’s elementary school and like usual he told me about it at the very last minute, literally when he was getting out of the car this morning. Lately I’ve been dealing with a lot and I forgot to check the school calendar to look at the events. Even though I spent an hour and a half in the dentist chair this morning getting drilled on I decided that I was not going to let that stop me from going.
So, I decided to whip something together and make it fabulous! I stopped at the dollar tree and got my son some bright yellow sunglasses and a sand bucket with shovel that he could use to put candy in to give it to his friends. Then I ran home quickly and put together a picnic basket with his favorite foods including fried chicken, strawberries and other snack goodies. I also got his class some mini cupcakes for him to give out later and some lollipops and cookies for his bucket to give out during the picnic to existing friends and to help him make new friends and to help him socialize.
I got there about 15 minutes early and laid out a blanket and popped up our colorful sun umbrella and then laid out the picnic basket food. I also bought some bubbles he could blow and a hula hoop that him and his friends could play with. I guess I thought to myself “OK” it’s a beach day so let’s do the stuff we would do at the beach. I also brought him his Hawaiian shirt and a pair of shorts to wear as they were encouraged to wear stuff that they would wear to the beach. By the end of the event everyone in his class was very friendly with him.
Even though it was last minute I felt that it was important to do this activity with my son. I have had a hard week and it’s only Wednesday, but regardless I wanted to see my son smile and be surprised by what I did for him. All of his classmates gathered together for a group picture at the end with Dereck right in the middle smiling. Today my son and I made a wonderful memory and I will add it to all of the ones that I cherish about him. Sometimes it’s important to remember to not let the sorrows of life defeat you and that you must fight back against them with love and joy.
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