For the THIRD time this year Cooper's name came up on the calendar for snacks and show & tell. When the January calender came out and I saw Cooper's name again, the blood pressure began to rise. Why do I feel stressed about it? Coming up with a (healthy)snack for 25 kids and 3 teachers and one that Cooper will be proud to present to his class and share with all his friends is intimidating for me. I am not the crafty type and I like my food simple. The first time I let Cooper decide and he chose bananas, that's it. I bought 28 bananas along with some Cheese Its and called it 'good'. Second time around it was for Cooper's birthday. I bought individual cups of vanilla ice cream from Braums and stuck in chocolate syrup. It was a hit! Now here we are again. What did I bring? Crackers & Cheese. Still I feel we will be up again a few more times until the end of the year. Anyone have ideas?

Show & tell is another thing. The teacher's asked at the beginning of the year to keep the toys at home and bring something from a vacation(?) or educational(!). I am fine with the reason behind it, but having to think of something different THREE different times become a little overwhelming. The first & second time Cooper brought games that he loves to play and he said it was fun to play them with his teachers and friends. Easy enough, right? Cooper had show & tell Monday and the weekend leading up to it I looked around for something to take. Sunday night Cooper said he wanted to take his tank and Army jeep that he got for Christmas, the wheels in my head began turning.

Monday morning he dressed up in his camo outfit(to look like Dad) and would strut around the house telling me how all his friends would love his outfit. I walked Cooper into his class with his snack and show & tell bag and he went right up to a group of boys playing and said, "Hey guys, look at me, I am an Army guy!" The boys oohhed and aahhed and it was cute to see.

I left my camera with his teachers and they snapped some good photos of him presenting his things to the class. He talked about his Dad who drives an Army truck and showed a picture of himself in a tank and a truck just like he brought. I was proud of Cooper and how his social skills are developing by leaps and bounds at this school. To think for the first two months he said nothing while at school to now standing in front of the class and sharing what he knows is precious to see!