And then it wasn't.
Fortunately.
The Redhead has quite a large biography project due tomorrow. And normally my child is not a procrastinator. Just recently I was bragging on Facebook on how she insisted on doing three days of makeup homework in one afternoon because it was important to her to get it all finished immediately. And she has been working diligently on the steps of this project: reading the book, making a poster (as though the subject would be running for President), the cover, and so forth. She also has to present her report and campaign poster in class. And then I was reading the assignment sheet and almost choked when I saw the words, "dressed as your subject." Or whatever the words were. I'm still traumatized.
Now, I know I wasn't nice at this point. Because here it is, due tomorrow, presentation is tomorrow, and I'm just now finding out she has to dress up. As Neil Armstrong. Which is annoying on many levels. One....totally last minute. Two...we used to have half a dozen leftover plastic astronaut helmets from her fifth birthday party....that we chose not to pack. What on earth were we going to do last minute?!
You can only imagine how angry I was. Trust me. Because in reality, my anger far surpassed the imagination. Even if there was a chance they went over this in class when she was sick, because really, this isn't like her. I was angry, regardless.
I try to back off as much as possible with her projects. I know a lot of parents do them for their children, but my kid isn't learning anything if I'm doing the work, except learning that Mommy will do it. And well, that's not all that valuable of a lesson. Unless I want a mooch the rest of my life. And a child incapable of doing her own projects. But when it comes to this costume, had I known, I would have sewn her some sort of jumpsuit, appliqued a ball cap, and added any other sort of details. Maybe even construct some sort of helmet. Not because I wanted to do it for her, but because that would have helped her become Neil Armstrong for her report. And if I couldn't have sewn it, I would have ordered something from my pals at Amazon. But finding out all of this at 4 o'clock in the afternoon with a presentation the next day doesn't really make much of that possible.
TRU didn't carry astronaut costumes. I know they once had something like that, but alas, not anymore, at least not at our closest location. Party City was our next destination and that was a lost cause. I was spoiled by the KC area Party City locations. They were large and helpful. This one was dismal. And probably a third of the size that I'm used to.
Then Mister Man had a plan. He's on a business trip, but from Laguna Beach, he managed to find a costume store in our area, find out they had astronaut costumes in stock, and managed to send us there. It's almost 90 degrees, my car a/c is still out from last summer, I'm cranky, I didn't have a GPS in my car, but we made it. And fortunately, they indeed had a costume in her size. We even could pick from two colors, orange and white. We also had the option to rent or buy. I went ahead and shelled out $61 after taxes. And I know, I know, that's a lot of money. But it's white. You and I both know the chances of that staying white at school are quite slim. I might as well pay the full amount now, rather than pay $32 now and the rest later.
And for last minute peace of mind....it was worth every penny. Plus, it will give my slightly apprehensive fourth grader a bit more confidence as she presents her report in front of the class. And that's priceless.
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