I have two kids, two boys actually – Nathan and Gabriel, five and seven respectively. My boys go to a small Catholic school. Every year they select a mother for each class to be what is known as classroom mother. Basically, it means I am in charge of all classroom parties and affairs as far as organizing and decorating. This year I’ve somehow managed to get roped into being both Nathan and Gabriel’s classroom mother, don’t ask me how. I’ve done this once before when Nathan was in kindergarten and let me tell you, it’s not easy. You’d be surprised how many different “occasions” there are during the school year. You need to have party supplies for Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and even New Year. Plus, birthday party supplies at all different times throughout the school year. Keep in mind that this is a small Catholic school so the budget they give us for this type of thing is not large. Thankfully, the parents usually chip in a certain amount each year to add to that fund which helps tremendously. Even with that help, though, it’s still a pretty tight budget.
All I can say is thank goodness for the Internet. A couple of years ago, one of the classroom mothers found this great store with discount party supplies online when she was desperately searching for baby shower party supplies. The whole site has a huge collection of party supplies – about 60,000 of them actually. There’s so much to choose from! It makes being a classroom mother so much easier. I can pick and choose all the discount party supplies online from the comfort of my own home with just a couple clicks of the mouse. I don’t know how past classroom mothers managed to do it all before the advent of the Internet!