Ice cream, I scream

Today was a little much. Ethan started pre-school at the place Abby went for 2 years. We loved it then, and I love it now. He zipped right in and started playing--no separation anxiety for that kid. I think it will be really good for him. It will also be interesting, since they provide lunch and it's a set menu that reaches far beyond the three foods that Ethan will currently consume.

Most of the rest of the day was consumed by Abby's school's Ice Cream Social, where the class lists are revealed and kids get to meet their teachers and see their classrooms. I had to wear both my mom-of-a-first-grader hat and my PTA-volunteer hat. I raced around setting everything up, mixing gallons upon gallons of lemonade and making copies of every sign up sheet known to man. Then I went with Abby to meet her teacher (who is lovely and will be wonderful, I have no doubt). I spent the rest of the time on ice cream duty. This is what I would like to spend the rest of this entry talking about.

This year, PTA bought ice cream novelties from Yarnell's and rented one of their freezers to hold them all. We got 4 kinds--fudge bars, ice cream bars, ice cream sandwiches, and freedom pops. (Yes, there is a point to me telling you this.) Since we only had one freezer, we put several of each variety out on a table and just replenished the table as needed. That way, everyone could see all the choices and select their own.

This should NEVER have been my job. I have way too little tolerance for schmucks, and they came to the ice cream table in droves. I had at least 10 people ignore the table and point to the fancy treat painted on the side of the freezer, saying they'd "take one of those." Ummm, yeah, this is NOT Baskin Robbins. And the PTA isn't exactly rolling in the dough. I had one mother ask me if there was a fat free option. In fact, there is--it's called DON'T EAT ICE CREAM. Kids would stand at the table foreeeevvvveeer, picking up a fudge bar, almost opening it, then throwing it back and grabbing a sandwich. Over and over. People would say things like, "Don't you have any Nutty Buddies?" or "Oh, I didn't want a blue--do you have any more reds?" People. This is FREE. When Abby was in pre-school, she learned a valuable phrase--you get what you get and you don't throw a fit. It almost came out of my mouth more than once.

There were, of course, many more highly pleasant people than annoying ones. I saw lots of familiar faces, including that of Abby's "boyfriend" who she claims will be her partner on Dancing With The Stars when they are 15. I can hardly wait. I told her that I'd even throw them a big party when they won--but she can forget about serving ice cream.