Where are the Decorations?

As I stomped down the hallway to my classroom yesterday morning (three bags of "supplies" in hand) I noticed that my Kindergarten teaching colleagues had jigged up their doorways with hearts and Valentine's Day streamers, etc.    Mental note to self at this time, "Slap up some paper hearts or something so you don't look like the boob of the team."

Apparently others had noticed my failure to usher in the season of love.  It became clear to me yesterday when a growing number of five year olds commented on the smashing good decorations draped on the three doorways of the OTHER Kindergarten classrooms.  I am the adult.  So, I figured I could just pretend that I didn't hear the growing buzz from the student body assigned to my charge.  Ignorance, or the illusion there of, has never led young children to stop their crusade for whatever it is they want.  This situation was no different.

  Finally one of these kids who had kept her eye on the developing decorations across the hallway finally had a "meeting" with me.  She said, "Why can't we have something on our doors like the other classes?" - This was spoken with a hand gesture out the door toward the rather fancy hearts draped on the door directly across from our room. These hearts were strung together with some fancy ribbons.......... Good question.

So, when recess came I stomped next door to my colleague and asked if she had any stray hearts I could slap up as I was getting heat from the growing number of concerned members in my room.  My teammate pulled out some gummy hearts that you can stick on the windows.  Perfect.  This would just settle everyone down and we could get on with the rigor of Kindergarten..............Not so.

I was proud to announce to the students as they marched in from their recess break that I had "decorated" our room by putting up 8 gummy heart cling-ons on the window in our door.  They measured about 1 inch by 1 inch each.  They are NOT easily seen from across the room, or up close for that matter as they are transparent pink and yellow in color.

Now another Kindergarten student took it upon herself to say, "That's all we got?" 

Me:  "Mmmm Hmmm." (in a quiet tone)

Student: "Can we make some real decorations?"

With instant self- reflection I thought....Well, mine aren't amazing, but they aren't really fake either, are they?  Instead I just said, "Mmmm Hmmm.  You can make some."

Scissors, glue, string and paper were snipped, strewn about and on every surface during free choice.  Now our room is host to some exquisite hearts, heart garland and random love notes taped to various structures in the room.

This is what you get when you have a guy as your Kindergarten teacher.