Ayyam-i-Ha Party Attacts Crowd

This was an interesting day, to say the least. The other teacher and I arrived at 3:30, all bright eyed and bushy tailed to have an Ayyam-i-Ha party! We had 4 or 5 games picked out, prizes for some of the games, helium balloons for decorations, sports equipment for several sports and tons of extra snacks. Par-ty!

At 3:55 we were puzzled that no kids had come. Our most optimistic guess was that 20 kids might show up. Didn't everyone remember our speech last week about extra stickers for coming to class on their own, and that we were having a party? Didn't anybody notice the lovely weather and just stroll by the playground where we were? NO.

After consulting, we decided the other teacher would stay with the stuff, and I would round up kids. Even though it was 4:05, heck, maybe I could get the kids who often attend and be back by 4:15. Not.

I'll skip the details of conversations with kids and parents that I had along the way, but at 4:30, rounding the corner to head back to the playground, I called the other teacher to say, "Hey, I know we'll only have 30 minutes, but I'm coming and there are 8 of us on our way. Are any with you?" Ya, and we're playing. See you when you get here.

We formed a circle with about 20, none of whom were the regulars, and sang, O God! Educate These Children. A parent was there and heard this, plus our short and quick speech about the day, "We're celebrating Ayyam-i-Ha, which is a fun time, and it's sort of celebrating that spring is almost here (that was not well thought out, but covered the basics in a way that was in my best 'kid speak' and also my 'everyone here is Christian and most don't know about Bahá'í' yet.) While we were singing the prayer, I peaked to my left. One kid who had attended our class a few times was humming one note; well, her mouth was open so it wasn't like true humming, and the girl next to her was glaring at her. The glare said, "Shut up! You don't know the song, and I can't concentrate on it with that sound you're making!" (It wasn't even Lucy. This brings me back to elementary school every time. I always loved singing, even the cheesy, kiddie songs... they all were... and while I learned songs for the first time, I just mumbled or hummed. It's a kid thing I think.)

Much of what happened was regular party stuff. What was unusual was that we had a party in 30 minutes. By the end, there were close to 30 kids! We only managed to get 4 of the snack items passed out (the other 5 types of items can be used another time or taken back to the store). We had 3 organized games/activities, and 3 we didn't do. As 'Z' and I walked a few kids home - most walked themselves home - we both had a sense of survival and accomplishment. It truly was an interesting day.