THE FOX FAIRY

For one last year, the kids are in the same school.  This occurrence will never happen again, I am very sad to say.  This is the sixth year I’ve been a parent of a child at Roberts and the teachers and staff have been great!  It’s an “A” school and though each year it’s a lottery as to what teacher the kids get, I’ve been pleased each time.

One of the great things about Roberts is the parent involvement.  The PTO and volunteers add so much value and help meet so many needs of the school.  The events and opportunity to give back begin even before the school year.

I’ve volunteered each year to help in the classrooms or for school-wide events, and each year I find capacity to do a little more.  Last year I was Box Top Mom for Kennedy’s class and I coordinated the Fall Festival activities for Mack’s.  This year, I am the Box Top Mom for both kids’ class and the “Fox Fairies Coordinator”.

Two weeks before the school year started, a lengthy email came out from the PTO Hospitality Coordinator.  She sent a very comprehensive list of events and opportunities for the upcoming year.  When you see it all in one list, you can readily see how much the PTO does for the school.  I answered the call for volunteers with raising my hand (figuratively of course) to coordinate providing treats for the teachers and staff for their birthday: be a “Fox Fairy”.

In years past, the Fox Fairies have made cookies or done something special for the teachers and staff.  As I read the job description, I quickly knew I could do a variation on that “theme” with cupcakes.   It’s a way to be able to acknowledge how well thought of the teachers and staff are and it’s a way for me to be able to volunteer, since with my work commitment during the week spending time helping out in the classroom is not always possible.

My adventure in cupcakes has not been a journey that was planned, with known stops or sites to see along the way, but more of a “live in the moment” type of excursion.  My decision to get involved as the Fox Fairy has driven my adventure forward in very pivotal ways.  My commitment had me quickly thinking “How am I going to tackle this project?”, “What will I put the cupcakes in?”, “When will I make the cupcakes?”, “What have I done?”….and many more questions.  Luckily there was time to figure it all out.  These are the fun puzzles life hands you. 

For the “What will I put the cupcakes in?”, I went back to my favorite online box company (Big River Packaging) and found matching boxes and inserts that hold two cupcakes.  Several months ago, I purchased the 12-count boxes in the chocolate brown.  There were so many choices of colors like pink, red, blue, white….but the chocolate brown seemed like just the color.  Fun.  Appetizing.  Classy.

The pretty brown box was not enough though.  To complete the packaging, I would need a logo.  I have thought about one for quite a while and generally knew what I wanted.  Something fun and clean but not cutesy.  One evening, I sat down with a pencil and paper and drew a few cupcakes.  Just grey lines on a page.  No color.  Some were better than others, I’ll admit.  I’m not an artist.  However, they were what I had wanted. 

After I had a few viable choices, I scanned them in and played around with layouts, fonts, and colors in PowerPoint.  I narrowed it down to four choices.  I loved them all.  How could I decide?  Thanks to my friends and family and Facebook, I was able to get unbiased opinions.  The clear winner was…

In week #2 of the new school year, I finally received the list of teachers and staff birthdays.  I won’t lie…the list is long.  There are 103 people on the list.  Their birthdays are fairly well disbursed around the year.  I flashed back to the original question, “How am I going to tackle this project?”.  I decided that if I make cupcakes once per month and deliver to all who had birthdays that month, I can probably do it with one batch of cupcakes. 

With that resolved, my quandary was what to do with the teachers and staff who have summer birthdays.  I decided to group August with the September birthdays for the first deliveries of the year and the July with the June as the final Fox Fairy special delivery of the year.  This way, no one would miss out and the workload would be manageable.

The final touch for the special deliveries was the message.  Instead of cards or handwritten notes, I designed a sticker for the top of the boxes that would convey the sentiment.  It had been a while since I wrote a poem, but I sat down again with pen and paper and put together a few verses. 

These first cupcake deliveries would be the most: there are 26 teachers and staff with birthdays in August and September at the school.  Over the long Labor Day weekend, I was able to set aside the time to bake and package the cupcakes, along with help from my sweetie Phillip.  He was a tremendous help folding boxes and loading cupcakes.

Since I would need to make more than one batch, I chose to make two types.  I settled on Apple Pie and Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, two of my more popular flavors and ones that most of the teachers and staff would surely enjoy.

On Tuesday after the long holiday weekend, I loaded up the very sturdy Dell computer box I had acquired from work and headed with the kids to school.  I dropped them off and circled back to the office.  It was just before the published time for the office to open, but luckily there were people in the front office.

As you can imagine, someone walking in with an arm load of box can draw attention.  The two ladies who had been discussing very important school business quickly asked if they could help.  I let them know that I was there to share birthday treats with 26 of their co-workers.  I gave them the list of names and birthdays and asked if they would make sure the right individual got the right box.  They were more than happy and thankful to assist. 

Operation Fox Fairy Birthday Drop #1 was a success!  Later in the day, I heard from the Hospitality Coordinator that the cupcakes were making their way to the special recipients and that smiles were abounding.  All the planning, printing, baking, and coordinating came together for the benefit of the teachers and staff.  I cannot wait until October and the next Fox Fairy delivery!

It’s clear to me every day that my children are becoming very independent people with their own experiences, friends, and life goals.  There are so many people that influence their lives from family to friends, teachers and coaches.  Being a parent is about surround them with the right people and helping them make the right choices.  It's about giving them countless opportunities and helping them to know that they can do anything they want, if they just take a chance.  It is a puzzle that comes with no instructions or picture to follow, but that parents seem to figure out.  I hope that the picture at the end is of two happy, healthy, productive individuals.

Until the next adventure...

Angie