Friday, March 8, 2013

The Cat and the Hat Appears SOL #8/31

 
My kindergartener son comes to my school yesterday after school explaining that Friday was “Dress as your favorite book character day!”
He also beamed that he was going to be “cat in the hat”!
I was thinking.....hummm...you are? Uh, what exactly do you think you are going to wear?”
I never said any of this to him. However, the wheels in my head started turning taking inventory of his closet and what we might have at home to magically make my boy into a cat character.
I knew the tall, stovepipe, red & white striped hat would be critical and we didn’t own one. While clumsily attempting to craft one from construction paper, my school librarian came to the rescue announcing that she had a Dr. Seuss hat that M could borrow.
Ahhhhh:)relief swept over me.
Now, on to dig out his black pants with fingers crossed that they would still fit him and that I would be able to find a black long-sleeved shirt in his closet!
Yes, both we hung neatly waiting.
To complete the ensemble, he would need a red tie and white belly.
I dug through a scrap fabric box in the basement and thankfully was able to locate both.
All it took to make the belly was cutting out an oval out of the perfect , slightly furry, white fabric and placing few stitches on it to stick it to his black shirt.
Now on to the tie creation. This was stumping me.
I could cut out two tie shapes, stitch them together and stuff them with stuffing.
Yeah, that would create a large, bold cartoon like tie.
----- No, that would take me forever.!!!
With the Tug-o-war tie dilemma still flip flopping in my head,I went about my evening only to stumble across a small, shiny red necktie in his room hidden beneath a pile of clothes. (promise I am not a hoarder) This was a necktie he must of worn on a special occasion when he was little but it was now going to make a transformation.
I took it downstairs, took it apart, did a little cutting, a little stitching and ….....voila !
We had a “cat in the hat” bow tie complete with the velcro encloser still attached.
This would work out great!
I was thrilled with what I was able to come up with just from a few things around the house.
No trips to walmart, no money spent,
no grandma spending hours sewing!!
(yes, Grandma once sewed 100 buttons on a shirt for him---for the 100th day of school, of course!)


He eagerly got up the next morning all by himself (which usually takes much coaxing
) and started putting on his attire for the day. He was ready to go in a jiffy!! 
Then came to me and stated, “Ok, all I need is white gloves and a cane.”
What? My eyes open wider but the smile remained on my face
never letting on that my mind was racing once again threw the house...white gloves? Do we have white gloves?
A cane? ...Are you sure Cat in the Hat has a cane?
As I am running around the house, grabbing the last few odds in ends that we need to get out of the house, I snatch up a “Cat in the Hat” book to prove to him that ”No, Cat in the Hat doesn't have a cane. It is actually an umbrella and I just don’t think we need to take an umbrella to school today."
He seemed fine with this revelation because while I was upstairs, he had searched through the hall tree that houses all the winter hats, gloves and mittens and found a pair of white gloves!
I was as shocked as you are. They were small, white knit gloves--just perfect for this occasion. First of al,l I am amazing that he knew where to look for something like that since I am generally summoned to find something for him that is in the same room with him
. Secondly, white gloves and a pair of white gloves found together ?!!
 It can’t be ...Then why have I been wearing two mismatched gloves all winter long?
 I snapped a photo of my jovial and goofy "Cat in the Hat”before we bounded off to school for the day.
  I do know that he was one happy boy.
This is why we (as teachers/schools) host “dress-up” days …..
.it causes Kindergarten boys to get themselves out of bed,
 solve problems
and walk to school with a little pep in their step eager to greet a school day. :)

8 comments:

  1. I absolutely love this photo and the backstory! I understand your frustration with the time postings - I'm on the West coast and would hurry last year to try to post before 9 p.m. my time, midnight on the east coast!

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    1. The comments usually stay open until 5 am-there are international slicers that deal with the time difference too!

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  2. Love your and his eagerness and excitement! Such a supportive mom!

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  3. He's an amazing Cat in the Hat! How awesome that he worked to create the costume with you! Very sweet!

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  4. What an amazing costume...and a great story behind it. My favorite part is the problem solving he showed in finding those last minute details to make it just right.

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  5. I loved the story. He is a very cute Cat In the Hat.

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  6. Cute, cute, cute guy! And I loved how you pulled all of the pieces together, without a trip to Walmart, or spending a zillion hours on the project. I used to think these kinds of days were a terrific idea (until I became a mom and had to figure them out, on top of all the regular stuff :) Well done, mom!

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  7. Awesome job, mom! I remember scrounging for items for costumes for school, science fair projects, and other sundry! Making the kids happy is work, but so rewarding!

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