Let’s talk about share day (or show and tell day) at school. I swear, nothing makes me sweat bullets on a Wednesday night like trying to come up with something appropriate for my son’s Share Day, which is on Thursdays every week. It would be different if he could just pick out something random around the house he wanted to show his classmates, like a toy or something, but no, Share Day has stipulations.
On Share Day, whatever my son brings to share must start with the letter of the week. Easy enough, right? However, it must also be put in a brown paper bag with three clues as to what is inside written on the paper bag. And this is where I start to panic, because I want him to bring something interesting, but I also don’t want him to bring something everyone else has brought that week. (I know…that’s a complex I am working on) I wonder how many apples were brought on letter “A” day?
So this week he brought a cookie cutter for the letter C to share. Groundbreaking stuff, y’all. Have you ever tried to describe a cookie cutter by giving three clues without giving away what’s in the bag? Think on that.
But mostly? My brain just draws a complete blank when trying to choose something for Share Day. I’m not too great at thinking on my toes about stuff like that and then I overthink, which gets me nowhere fast. I have issues on that, too. The other big problem is that I can think of a million great things for him to take that starts with the letter he is working on that week, only, everything I think of won’t fit inside a brown paper bag. Hmph!
I thought I had it really bad until a Facebook friend just this morning shared her child’s Share Day dilemma. Halfway to school and too far to turn back for home, her child realized it was Share Day and she had brought nothing. The requirements for HER child’s Share Day? The item had to be something with the short “e” sound. THE SHORT “E” SOUND!! Because my friend is such a sharp thinker (and also used to be a teacher), she quickly fished out a Spanish coin she had collecting dust in her car that had “Espana” written on it, and said, “Because doesn’t everyone have money from Spain lying around in their car?”. Well played, Mom. Well played, indeed.
So, what are the stipulations for YOUR child’s share day? Is it a free-for-all, or are their stringent guidelines about what is to be brought in? Any funny Share Day stories to share? Near misses like my friend almost had? I’d love to hear them!
That seems so crazy to me!
My son’s show and tell days were a free for all. They could bring just about anything, as long as it fit inside their backpack or a parent was willing to come along for the time. (We once had a baby goat go visit.)
I HATED share day, we had a similar set up. What worked for me was just going through my son’s toys and picking something out that fit the criteria. What I dreaded more than anything was the clues being too hard or him not being able to read them (part of the criteria).
Thanks God 4th graders don’t have to do this! lol
Yay! Someone else suffers from this and not just me! haha! That’s what I’ve been doing…going through the toys, and when that doesn’t work I start looking through the kitchen drawers! haha!