Cricket Classic

Last night was the fun run and pic-nic at the kids' school.  What a good way to end the year.  The boys each had numbers to wear on their backs, and got free water bottles.  The whole student body did warm up exercises together, then went down to the field and ran around...and around...and around.  The organizers hand out jelly bracelets on each lap, so the kids try to build their collections by going around a few more times.  They each did about 20 laps, at 1/4 mile per lap...that's 5 miles of walking/running!  Wohoo!

Zoe and I relaxed on a blanket on the hill with the other lazy parents, and the middle school band entertained with a few numbers.  It made me think hopefully about my kids one day being in the band.   We were soon joined by the boys so we could enjoy our sub sandwiches and desserts.  Free snow  cones and temporary tatoos added to the fun, along with balloons tied by a clown.  Guy actually waited in line about 45 minutes to get one of the balloons (none of the rest of us had the endurance), but then he set the balloon down to go play capture the flag or some other game, and his balloon walked off.  He was pretty down about that!

I have a vivid memory of going to an arts festival when I was about 6, and I waited in a VERY SPECIFIC and VERY LONG face-painting line because I wanted to get my face painted by a talented lady who could REALLY do a fine job making a kid look like butterflies or tigers or flowers.  After eons of waiting, my turn was NEXT!  Just as the lady finished the kid in front of me, she stood up and left for her break!  Her replacement jumped into the chair and asked me what I wanted painted.  There was no way to explain that I wanted to be a butterfly just like so many amazing butterflies that had walked away from that very chair.  The new lady interpreted my horror-stricken silence to mean that I was a dolt and would love to be painted up like a clown.  She did a rotten messy job and made me feel embarrassed by my idiotic face for the rest of the day.  I'm sure my mother and grandmother were mystified by my grouchy mood.  I've been very picky about face paint ever since.

So as I watched my son and other kids waiting 45 minutes for a talented balloon artist, I thought I'd like to prevent the same heartache from happening again.  I asked the clown to designate the end of the line, then I suckered our principal into being the evil line-ending sherriff (he told any further children they could NOT get in line...the end had been set!).  It seemed rough to turn kids away, but wouldn't it have been worse to turn them away AFTER they waited so patiently?  They'd be sure to fear clowns forevermore.