Sometimes, I wonder...

It's not THAT hard to schedule events around here. I can't speak for every school, and I've definitely worked at both ends of the spectrum. My first school made scheduling EVERYTHING a nightmare. They had a strict "one event per day" policy that included sports games and practices. This was "so the girls wouldn't be so over-extended" but it also meant that there weren't any school dances because the gym was booked or the field hockey girls would be tired or the soccer girls couldn't make it.....etc. Scheduling had to be done years in advance, pretty much. Ridiculous.

Here, it's much more relaxed. We have "scheduled events" in that we know we always have some sort of small celebration for Cinco de Mayo, Christmas, small events for Catholic Schools Week...etc. They're just planned a few days in advance, or a few weeks if it's a major event. No big deal. However, today is Cinco de Mayo, and every year (since the neighborhood "changed") the kids are released from school on the parking lot and each kid gets a paleta as a special treat. It's a fun afternoon and it's a good time (and I get a free paleta). The schedule conflicts that arose from this, though, are headache inducing.

First we were supposed to meet in the parking lot at 1:45 for paletas, but then return inside to gather up our things and go. Then people complained that it would be a nightmare trying to get kids back in the building and ready, so it was suggested that it be moved back a little. Oh, it was moved alright! To 2:30. Dismissal is at 2:40. Sure enough, that was worse than being on the parking lot with 225 kids for an hour. Parents were already lined up and waiting, and the parking lot is madness to begin with. Some kids got their paletas and left early, but others were milling around and waiting to leave. It was pretty chaotic and not fun, and two parents (notoriously bad drivers to begin with) got into a car accident as they were leaving. Nice.

Next year, let's aim for 2:15.