Surprise Party!

My mom has been a Kindergarten teacher in Kuna for a little less than 15 years. After several years in a regular classroom, she helped pilot a program that was specifically designed to help kids struggling with reading. She would get the lowest of the low readers and work with them every other day to help them. Mom was fabulous, and over the next few years, she saw so much progress and felt really validated.

The program lost some of its funding, so the last few years have been much more difficult. Instead of just putting kids that struggled with reading in her room, the schools began to put children that had behavioral and learning disabilities in her room because they did not have enough special education resources. This was highly frustrating to Mom because she was not certified to work with that kind of situation, and there wasn’t nearly enough help in the classroom for her to help all of the children.

This last year was especially bad. She had 2-3 children in her classes who were absolute nightmares. One child in particular, would threaten other students, run away, cause physical fights, and on and on. Mom begged for help from the program director and the principal, but nobody did anything. She got to the point where she dreaded going to school every day and started seeing a therapist to help her remain focused and calm. It was such a terrible situation, and I was so angry that nobody would step up and get these kids the real help that they needed. They obviously could not be in a regular classroom and needed one on one attention. Mom was counting down the days until the end of the school year, and she decided that she no longer wanted to teach if this is how it was going to be.

After she decided she was going to retire, it was just a matter of getting to the end. We all encouraged her, but it was a challenging few weeks. It was sad to see how the district had let one of its best teachers quit because of their inaction. Kym called me one day and suggested having a Surprise Retirement Party to help her celebrate the end of the rough year and the start of a great retirement. I thought it was a fantastic idea, so I worked with everyone to get all the details together for the big surprise.

Mom is a master planner, and I learned all I know from her! I set up meal menus, coordinated everyone’s schedules, assigned people to decorate and grocery shop, and helped come up with ideas for activities to do. I may have been the one helping make plans, but everyone really stepped up and volunteered to help make it awesome! It worked for everyone to hold the party over Memorial Day weekend so that the out-of-towners had more time to drive.

We decided on a Mexican Fiesta theme for the party. Since

Claire was local, she helped so much. She did the grocery shopping and also devised a scheme to get Mom out of the house while everyone arrived to set up. They went and got pedicures while we prepared the Café Rio style meal, decorated with streamers, and made sure everything was perfect.

I didn’t think there was any way that we were going to pull off the surprise. With all the coordinating that had to happen with Dad and all the families, I was worried that someone would spill the beans and let something slip.

When they got home, we all hid. Mom walked in the door, and Carter got so excited he yelled, “Surprise!” before everyone was ready. It didn’t matter though because she was still completely shocked when we all jumped out. When she realized what was going on, she was so happy. I have rarely seen mom more happy than she was that weekend. All of the work was already taken care of for her, so she didn’t have to worry about anything except having fun with her family.

After dinner, we had a little program where we presented mom with several little presents. Hannah came up with the idea to make her a little book from all of the families that showcased the many things that Mom has taught us over the years. The grandkids drew pictures, and it turned out really sweet. Katie presented Mom a plaque for the wall for her retirement. All of the children have a similar plaque from missions or YW awards, so it was fun that Mom got one too. It was beautiful and very special. Daniel put together a little movie with pictures and video clips of Mom with her kids and grandkids. Lastly, Joe and Kym put together a trivia game of fun questions about Mom that everyone got to answer. It was such a great evening!

The next day we went to yard sales, swam in uncle Mike’s pool, and went fishing. In the evening, we played games, listened to Dad tell stories about his youth, and enjoyed being together. 

Monday was Memorial Day, so we went to the cemetery where Grandpa and Grandma Christensen are buried. Dad told some more stories to the Grandkids, and then we went to Uncle Darell’s house for a picnic lunch. We played all the old classic games like Annie Annie Over and tug-a-war. It was a lovely day.

When it was finally time for everyone to go home, we reflected on the weekend. It was perfect! Everyone helped make it so special, and Mom was beaming the entire time. She deserved being spoiled and doted on because she has done that for all of us for as long as we can remember. It was one of the best weekends I can remember. Retirement is going to be wonderful, and I look forward to seeing what Mom does with her new found freedom.