Yo Yo Extravaganza!

Yo-Yo’s are all the buzz in Kindergarten this week.  Why, you ask?  They have been around forever.  Well, we had a fancy yo-yoer come to school for an assembly showing marvelous yo-yo tricks.  (The likes of which I have never seen before in my life. He was quite amazing with the round thing wound onto a string.)  The PTA was then going to sell yo-yo’s at the noon recess for any students who wanted to buy one.  (Mmmmm Hmmmm. You can see where this is headed.)

The yo-yo extravaganza was set for the next five days following the assembly.  Kids could beg or plead for money from their parents for a yo, or they could smash open their piggy bank using their own money to get one of these newly coveted items that have been around since God was a boy.  (I did take a minute to reflect on how the yo really didn’t have the draw for me when I was a child as it had magically done to the twenty-four Kindergarten students in my class, and apparently what it had done to captivate the nearly 600 kids in our school.  How do I know this?  The line at the yo-yo buying table the first day. – Hundreds of kids are lining up to buy these plastic marvels.) - Not only can you buy a yo, you can also buy the paraphernalia to go with one.  Mmm Hmmm, I wondered that too.  WHAT paraphernalia goes with a yo?  Let me tell you.  You can get a pack of 10 extra strings, a Yo holder, a DVD with advanced Yo tricks and so on.  Who knew?

So, at the end of the noon recess on the first day of the yo-yo saleathon I was met by three very distraught five year olds.  Any guesses why?  Mmmm Hmmmm.  The line was sooooo long that they waited the entire recess in line and never made it to the purchasing booth. I worked some magic, I tell you!  I told great tales of perseverance and tenacity and that this “waiting for a yo” could very well be the experience that helped build both of these in them.  It was less than exhilarating to the yo-less five year olds.  One even had tears in her eyes. (I may not be a motivational speaker after all.)

Day Two of the yo sale on the playground went similarly.  This time five of my students stomped in from the mid-day break yo-less.  Come to find out the demand for this pre-1900 toy was far greater than anyone anticipated.  Certain models had sold out and were on back order.  (You read correctly….Certain models…..Who even knew yo’s had different model types?  I thought the only choice was a round plastic ball with a string on it.  Apparently they have ones with ball bearings inside, ones that retract, spin and then retract all on their own and then of course there is the plain Jane model like I had as a kid.)  The end of day two brought an intercom announcement from our school principal assuring the kids that they knew the demand was great and that they would get to everyone as soon as possible to get them their yo’s.  – None of this was much comfort to the growing student body in my room who were still yo-less.

Day Three of the Yo-Yo Extravaganza was yesterday.  Dare I tell you what happened?  An announcement on the intercom late morning saying, “There will be no yo-yo sales on the playground today.” – Complete chaos erupted in my room.  There were tears, there were audible sounds of disappointment.  (After some further research I learned that the yo’s were on order and on a UPS truck headed for us, but hadn’t arrived yet.)

The most entertaining line of this three day experience (Which will be back in full swing on Monday and Tuesday next week) was one boy who paid for a yo on the first day saying to me after this announcement, “If I don’t get my yo-yo today I want my money back because it is just like giving money away for nothing!” – This boy has a future in negotiations.  He is all about the take-back.  I couldn’t agree with him more.

I am anxiously awaiting what Monday and Tuesday will bring and I can only hope that the yo Gods will work some magic and make the UPS truck roll in before noon.