Kindergarten Classmates Summer Play Date

At the end of June all registered kindergarten families received a list with their teacher's name on it and the names, addresses and phone numbers of their classmates. Someone told me this was to arrange carpooling since there's a mid-day pick-up or drop-off (depending on if you have morning or afternoon kindergarten). I thought it would be neat to organize a play date to get to know the classmates, but I didn't do anything for awhile. Part of me hoped another parent would take the initiative. Part of me wondered if I should try to host something...and then I wasn't sure if I really wanted parents knowing how close we live to the school.

But, with little time left in the summer, I decided to stop for pre-stamped postcards (enough for the entire class) and wrote this message "Please join us at Overlook Park on Friday, August 24, from 9:30-11:30 to play and get to know one another before the start of kindergarten. We will bring a snack to share, and siblings are welcome, of course. Please let us know if we should look for you [giving our info to RSVP]! Hope you can come!" I addressed each card to the student and his or her family. And I mailed them the week before the play date. The first three responses I had were that their children were no longer in the class, but thanks for the invite. Then I started to receive some that said "yes." One child showed up who wasn't on my list (but the mom must have known someone else, which was great!). Pictured above are Ella, Henry, Paige, Kayley, Nathan, Joshua, Brayden and Braedon. Bethany (I think?) came later, and I found out she was also in Joshua's class. A few moms emailed to thank us for the invite but said their child's daycare was going on a trip to Hershey Park. Another mom had to work, and two others said their child was sick. A few didn't respond at all. But, my hope was that Joshua would get to know some familiar faces and that I would get to know some of the parents/families.

After sending out the invitation, I looked high and low for a babysitter, coming up short all the way around. My sister and sister-in-law had to work. My other sister was at the beach, and so was my Dad (different beaches). It was my mom's husband's birthday, so she couldn't. Our babysitter was also away on vacation. UGH!!! I prayed about it. Then I thought of a gal from down the street whose mom had just invited us to the neighborhood picnic. When I called to RSVP, I asked her age and if she would be allowed to babysit. She was 13, and the Dad said he'd talk it over with his wife. She called me later to confirm that YES she was available and YES she was interested. I praised God! The mom also told me that she was just down the road if there was any issue. Hooray!!! I asked the gal if she would like both Caleb and Ryan or just Ryan (since he's at the stage of needing more of me, and I wanted to give a majority of my attention to Joshua and the other kindergarten moms). She said to leave both behind, and Caleb could be her helper. That was GREAT! Caleb had a fun time, and he said how much he likes Suzanna. YEAH!!! Shawn's not sure she's old enough to watch all three yet, but it worked out great for that morning. It was an answer to prayer!

We got there a little early, and Joshua started playing immediately. As families came, I introduced myself and him. He wanted to play mostly with his friend Nathan, but he at least said hi to some of the other folks who came. They all seemed very excited for school, and it was nice to meet some of the moms and see how involved they were in the children's lives. A couple moms couldn't make it but sent their child along with a grandparent, who blended right into the mix!

Since Overlook is a fairly big park, the kids had kind of scattered. It was a VERY warm day, and I suggested that we take a break around 10:30ish to have a snack all together in the shade. The families all said they thought that was a great idea. I took goldfish to share, figuring that was a safe snack as far as allergies go and having extra to feed siblings would also be easy. Another mom volunteered to bring drinks and crackers, and she had Capri Suns for everyone along with packs of Angry Bird animal crackers, which I thought was very nice. I took along napkins and paper products as well.

The kids all sat together and the moms all sat and chatted. After everyone had eaten what they wanted to, I suggested we get one group picture before they take off and play again. I thought the first picture turned out the best, but I thought the pictures in general were cute. They seemed like a good group!

After I finished cleaning up the snack (and since this is a "take-in-take-out" park, I had to take all the trash, which I hadn't anticipated, but it wasn't a big deal), I found Joshua playing this game with the boys who came that morning.

Then, Joshua went to climb on the spider web with his friend Nathan. Nathan lives next door to my sister, has parents who attend Calvary and seem like a solid couple/family, and he went to preschool with Joshua last year. He seems like a nice boy, and I'm glad they're friends!

Joshua LOVED the spider web! And I think he had fun at the kindergarten play date. The moms all thanked me for organizing it, and I'm glad I did. I would have regretted it had I not done something. There's no other way to get to know the parents, really, so it worked out great.

My little buddy scared me with how high he climbed! But he had a blast. We left right at 11:30 (some families had already gone and some were still there but left when we said we were heading out, I think). I headed back and paid the babysitter and took her home. It was a fun morning!