I try to keep the blog free from my personal happenings, but this is also sort of soap related. As most are aware, Easter is just a couple of sleeps away – and may I just say, thank you to Rise of the Guardians movie for finally giving me an Easter Bunny I can believe in. He’s all I see now when someone talks Easter.
Anywho, coinciding with easter is the end of my daughter’s first term of prep at school. *wipes tear away* Her prep teacher is AWESOME and when Miss 5 noticed someone giving the teacher an easter gift, she asked if she could too. So today, I popped out and grabbed an easter themed gift box and got to work. My only order was a finger-pointed, attitude-overflowing, “Don’t forget soaps mum!”. No dear… never!
The box was an easy pick. I had seen them in one of the $2 shops the other week. Very cute!
I’m getting quite skilled at whipping up a gift basket now. This one was popped together in a matter of minutes! Course, having the easter eggs to fill the normally frustrating empty spots made life a lot easier!! Thinking I really need to get back into my bath bombs once easter is over.
And… voila! After school I took Miss 5′s school bag and she delivered her present to a very surprised teacher. Course, it’s all part of my secret ploy to get as many people knowing what I make as possible. And who better than a female school teacher that might brag about it across the teachers lounge! 
While picking up the bits and pieces for the teachers gift, I decided to also grab some other easter goodies. At school, they use a buddy system. A grade 6 (the final level for primary) is allocated a preppy (1st level – Miss 5′s level) to be a ‘big buddy’ too. It gives the little ones a big brother or sister of sorts. Someone to turn to if they can’t find a teacher, ask help from, etc. Miss 5 has two buddies. She’s just special!
I hear about these buddies all the time. And if we see them in the morning, she’s off to give them hugs. I think I freak them out a little bit (purple hair, tattoo’s lol), but they genuinely seem like nice girls. So while out shopping, I decided to also grab a couple of small easter bags and put together a special ‘thanks for being my buddy’ easter gift.
And this is where I’m going to get a bit soppy on you. See, I have no happy memories of my childhood. I had a mother who was never there, and I don’t have any memories of hugs and kisses like I smother my own kids with. I was teased mercilessly at school and as a result have suffered life long, permanent damage from that. I remember being the kid that watched other kids swap easter eggs, Xmas cards, birthday party invitations. I was never invited to birthdays. And I only received the ‘pity’ eggs or cards, forced upon the giver by a parent who didn’t like seeing me the only one not receiving.
Despite (perhaps in spite?) of all of these issues and more, I felt overwhelmed with pride for myself today. See, not only was I more than happy to run around and organise a gift for the teacher (something my own mother wouldn’t had time to do, would have gotten frustrated with, etc), the addition of the buddy gifts was not something I had to force, it was just an automatic action. The teachers gift was easy – I made half the products. My mum never made anything, so I don’t really compare those two scenarious.
But, tomorrow my daughter is off to school with a special gift for each of her buddies, and a little pack full of small easter eggs to give out as she pleases. For most people (I would imagine), something like a $2 bag of easter eggs to give out to your class mates / friends at school isn’t a big deal. But for me, it’s HUGE. For close on an hour after I got home, I was amazed that despite my experiences, and altered view of things, I am able to so naturally do this for my daughter.
I really can’t express in words what I felt today. Amazement that it all came so naturally to me to organise these gifts on Miss 5′s behalf. Pride in that, despite how f***ked up I feel nearly every day, that I’m really not. Overwhelming happiness that Miss 5 is going to have such a different up-bringing than I did, and that her memories will be filled with happiness and friendship, something I never knew. AND that her experiences of those things, are aided by me! I have nothing to go by. I can’t sit here and remember, “Oh yeah I loved it when….” Yet, my mind isn’t bitter and angry. I want happiness, giving, etc. And I want my daughter to experience all that I didn’t.
Today, for just a split second in the timeline of my life as a parent, I felt so super proud of myself. I felt like one of those, “I wish my mum was as cool as your mum” parents. That despite everything, both childhood and recent, I’m ok. I’m great. I’m AWESOME!!!
Ok… so enough off that. More pics!!
These are the buddy gifts. Each girl gets an easter egg (obviously), a bar of Fruit Tingle soap (good tween smell), a Bubblegum and a Strawberry Lip Balm, and the coolest little stress toy EVER!
He’s so squishy I want to DIE! (Despicable Me). I LOVE them!! So much so I bought three… yes, one for me. I have a red one.
These are the little easter eggs for Miss 5 to give away. Probably the only part I am concerned about. Miss 5 is SUCH a giving child, and just wants to make everyone happy, that she is prone to giving people stuff even if she doesn’t really know them. A few of my customers and friends would be familiar with having a bar of her choc-mint soap shoved at them. She just wants to give.
My concern is she will give to pretty much anyone that comes up and asks – which she will then later get upset about. I’ve seen it before. Same thing if people ask for more than one egg. I’m not worried about her class mates, but she is also friends with a LOT of kids outside of her own grade. It surprises me constantly how many kids know her name… of all ages. I just hope they respect her enough to not take advantage of her innocence.
As hard as it will be to watch her get upset (if she does), it’s a lesson she’s going to need to learn. I did decide to put a few special egg shaped chocolate eggs in the front pocket of her little case for those super special friends:
They’re a decent size, and they’re different to the bunnies and chicks that she will likely hand out to anyone that smiles at her. I’ll be explaining, very gently, to her in the morning that she only has to give out to people she wants to, and it’s ok to say no. But, if she does feel a bit overwhelmed (kids and chocolate – easy to happen), then there are special eggs in the front she can give to her best friends only.
Easter this year is already fantastic. I feel I’ve moved ten steps forward to recognising my positives and not just my negatives, Miss 5 is getting experiences I only ever dreamed about, and at the end of the day, despite the yelling, frustration, bed time battles and more… I’m a pretty awesome mum.
Simply… I rock! :-p
