The 100th Day of School Project

The holiday hustle and bustle is over. You think your life is going to slow down and you can finally settle in for a long winter rest until you open your child's backpack and find a note from their teacher. 

The note explains that the 100th Day of School is approaching and would you please work with your young person to create a project with 100 items for them to bring to school to celebrate the occasion.

If you are the overly-organized,creative, well put-together Mommy you take this all in stride. I admire those Mommy's! I strive to be like those Mommy's. But if you are like me, I try and actually ignore the note for a few days until the realization that I have wasted several days hits and now I am have that much less time to pull something out of thin air.

Maybe if you are lucky you will have the type of child that The Boy was when he was small. He had no interest in making a project. He wanted something to do with cars and that was the amount of input he was willing to give. If this is the case, you are free to throw something together at the last second. 100 felt shapes sewn on a t-shirt. Done.

However, if you have the type of child The Short Chic is, you are in a serious amount of trouble. Each day you spend procrastinating on the project is valuable time lost. The Short Chic is the type of child who demands input in the creative process. She also, at a very young age, exercises her veto right (like she is the President or something).  There is no "let Mommy help you." No way. The Short Chic is a do'er. 

The project, as dictated by The Short Chic: A giant letter "O" with one hundred jewels.

I purchased a decent sized letter but The Short Chic decided it was too small. So we went for the giant sized one. I had her count out 100 jewels. If I am not mistaken, this is the whole point of the project: having your small ones learn to count to 100!. 

Next, she glued the jewels to the letter. Luckily for me we had a week to complete the project so we did not have to stop there. Next, we mixed up some colored grout that we found at our local craft store (thank goodness for 40% off coupons). 

The Short Chic smeared the whole project with yellow grout and then we took wet rags and wiped it clean. The end result: one giant initial covered with one hundred jewels. Just what her heart wanted all along. 

So, now the 100th Day of School has passed can I get that winter rest? Maybe but only for a moment...Valentine's Day is just around the corner!