Break it down!

'Twas the night before Christmas (Break), and all through the house,
Just one creature was blogging, while using his mouse.

Tomorrow is our last school day before break, day 77 for anyone who is counting. You would think 77 days would be a long enough time period to establish a routine or two, but my kids seem to take the adage "Every day is a NEW day" QUITE literally. Still, we will be having a little bit of a party after lunch tomorrow. Nothing major, just some fun time for games and snacks.

On the way out the door, one girl asked if she could bring Twister. I told her that she could, but not to expect me to play. My body doesn't contort like that anymore -- not that it ever did.

I know that some teachers are still teaching through mid or even ALL of next week. I feel for you, I really do. But hey, at least you will be out of school for longer than I am at the beginning of 2012.

Lastly, please be sure to check out Carol's latest Carnival of Education, where she's listed her 12 favorite bloggers. Look who scored the "Golden Rings" position! WOOT!!

Partying with the kids

I tend to be stubborn, so I'm just going to keep on plugging away with Interactive Monday, even though the "Interactive" aspect of it has been somewhat lacking...

My question today is, "What kind of Christmas (or Holiday) party (if any?) do you have with the kids?"

My partner and I are planning a little party for Friday afternoon. We will buy pizza, but we've sent a note home with the kids asking the parents to supply things like juice boxes, fruit, and chips. Cupcakes and cookies were expressly forbidden this year. Rum-heavy eggnog was not EXPRESSLY forbidden, but I think it is understood.

For most of the day, we will be doing things like writing winter-themed word problems, drawing winter-themed shape patterns, adding winter-themed numbers. I also have great aspirations for Christmas-themed stories that we started brainstorming for today. Mine will apparently include a scary robot named Chippy McFlatfoot. I am very interested to see what the kids come up with. They were scribbling furiously during our brainstorming time today. Hopefully, a lot of the kids will share their stories during the party on Friday.

So I open the floor to you -- yes YOU! What do YOU do with the kids?

The proverbial holiday party

Our Interactive Monday posting is going out late today, but I'm hoping to get a lot of responses to it, as it's a pretty juicy topic.

I couldn't think of just one way to pose the question, so I will present you with a flurry of them, all around a central topic, the office holiday party. Do you have them? Have you gone? Has anything wild ever happened? Have you ever done anything truly embarrassing that you probably shouldn't share with random people on a blog, but you're going to anyway because you're that starved for love and attention?

The topic comes up because my school's Christmas, excuse me, HOLIDAY party is being held this Wednesday. Last year's party wasn't too bad, but nobody did anything any more embarrassing than some ill-advised karaoke. It was a far cry from the office parties of lore, where everyone gets smashed, co-workers hook up, and lowly peons have to sneak into their boss' office late at night to delete an incriminating email.

Even back when I worked for "Heat Pumps Unlimited," (with my vaunted Mechanical Engineering Degree), our parties were relatively tame. I DID see a few more people drink a bit more than they should have back then, but still nothing wild.

So I'm sure somebody reading this has a great story to share. Just don't make it about someone hanging Mistletoe from their belt buckle.