Wednesday, October 15, 2008

The County Giveth and the County Taketh Away

For the past five weeks my little girls have been enrolled in a cooking class offered by our county's parks and recs program. The class was called "Wee Chefs" and the girls really loved it. Each week they made (and ate) two recipes and a craft (this they did not eat); they also read books and put together puzzles. In short, they had a grand time--all hour and forty-five minutes of it.


It was a drop-off program. That's a hour and a forty-five minutes a week I had when I was beholden to no one, a phenomenon that had not previously occurred in ten years of motherhood. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that I enjoyed Wee Chefs as much as Teensy and Kenna.


I spent those Wednesday mornings "off" running PTA errands, going to a furniture store alone--because I could, perusing the clearance shelves at Target, meeting a friend for brunch (!), and chaperoning Maia's field trip. I've determined that this window of time is perfect for me to have a little breathing time and then start to miss my little girls before I head back to pick them up.


Even though it's been a win/win/win, I debated whether to sign Teensy and Kenna up for the second session of this class. Frankly, it costs a bit much and I know my girls have other interests we can pursue. Then, I thought of all the Christmas shopping I could get done without the peering eyes of nosy preschoolers accompanying me. With Michael working 60 hours a week and volunteering at church another 10+ on any given week, I didn't know when I could get the shopping done so easily. So, I bit the bullet and registered the girls for the next session. The girls and I were all excited!

Today, while I was chaperoning Maia on a field trip to St. Mary's City, the county called. Wee Chefs has been cancelled due to lack of interest. How can this be? Doesn't anyone else worry about when she is going to get her Christmas shopping done? Aren't there more children out there who would love to spend Wednesday mornings making pizza and bagels with grape and strawberry faces and spider cookies using Oreo's with Twizzlers as legs? Anyone? Anyone at all?

Apparently not. I guess I have to make peace with it. The county gave me that free time on Wednesday mornings and I guess the county can take it away. But I don't have to like it.

21 comments:

Jann said...

It is amazing what can get done without a single child along for the ride. I am sorry the class was canceled. They really look happy in their chef hats.

Christie said...

Man that sounds glorious! How sad that they aren't doing it anymore.

Sommer said...

Wow that sounds so fun! I can't believe more people didn't want to do it! Teensy and Kenna are adorable! I love their chubby cheeks and they look so much a like!

whitney allison said...

A true tragedy. I've learned though, being in a related field that cancellations to things like that happen all the time due to lack of sign ups. Seriously, all the time.

Brenda said...

Oh, that is totally worth it to have all that time to yourself!! I'm so jealous!
Sorry about the cancellation. Maybe in January??

Jenni said...

Oh this is a sad story!! What a cute class and what glorious free time!! I'm sorry it was canceled!

Adam said...

I can't believe no one else commented on the veiled reference to The Office..."win/win/win." Truly a great moment in TV comedy.

Meg said...

Aww man, that's too bad! Jaide did Wee Chefs last year and it was a great little class. Yeah, it actually was last November. That's sad people didn't sign up.

Anonymous said...

I am so sorry to hear about that, especially since I know how precious time can be without the kiddies...have you considered shopping online? It's saved me life!

carilarkins said...

Taylor would have loved that class. We could have supported that program too if we had known about it. We're new so when you find great things like this, pass the info on to us and we can go to Target together.

Jessica said...

That stinks! Maybe you could search around online and see if they offer something similar in your area. I would think that this type of program would get a lot of interest.

The pic of Marlee and Mackenna together is so sweet! Little Mackenna is quite photogenic!

erin sheely said...

Sad!! But I'm glad they had such a good time.

Tracy said...

Suck it up. You'll just have to have more play dates with my daughter so I can go shopping. You can shop when your hubby gets home from work :)

Deb said...

i feel your pain, mendy. i hope you can find an alternative somewhere....

CJohnson said...

Oh, you even made me start to dream of the day when you told me about wandering around the furniture store alone! I'm so sad for you. You deserve some time to yourself. :)

Jennifer Lovell said...

Lately I feel that kind of freedom when Audrey is at her preschool class (which I have to teach every third week), even though Tate is still with me. I decided grocery shopping is still great with him, because he doesn't know how to ask me to buy him stuff yet, ha ha! I can't imagine how much you enjoyed those regular Wednesday times being completely child-free, yippee! I'm glad you got to enjoy that while it lasted, and that the girls got such a fun course to participate in.

Kellie said...

Drop them off sometime to jump on the tramp! I can do 90 minutes of little girls!

Rachelle said...

I am totally with you on the free time. This is why I love preschool. I'm always like what fun thing should I do today during my few hours a week of freedom.

Amber said...

Looks like you will just have to make more cookie dough with them at home in their own kitchen. It's tough being a good mother, but you are equal to the task!

Heidi said...

Love the new Halloween photo! I've been anxiously waiting to see what you would come up with this year. You did a great job--again. What constantly amazes me (besides the fact that you find time to make all those fabulous costumes) is that your kids continue to enjoy the family-themed costumes. I hope my kids will continue to let me have input into their costumes as they get older.

Love the picture. I wish I could see it bigger, though. Are you going to post more pics?

carilarkins said...

The picture of your costumes is way too small. I'm going to need an entire post dedicated to your costumes.

Quotation of the Month

There is no way to be a perfect mother, and a million ways to be a good one.

-Jill Churchill