A Local Clusterfisk - (No) Doughnuts With Dad Day

So today the kids were very excited - it was Doughnuts with Dad Day at School.

Hosted by the PTO it was supposed to be a fun start to the day with the kids taking their dads in for a doughnut, a craft, and a picture of Kids and Dad together.

So we arrived at about 8:15 and the parking lot was already packed. Luckily, we had walked to the school.

Unfortunately, by 8:16 they announced to the huge line that had formed outside the gym they were out of doughnuts.

On Doughnuts With Dad Day.

That was quite an inauspicious start. Leah was getting upset and Abby was outraged at the lack of planning - "How could they run out of doughnuts!?! It's the Doughnuts With Dad Day!". They announced they would go get more doughnuts and everyone should go get their picture taken with their kids.

So we then left that line and then waited in line by the media center to get our picture taken together -- nothing special but it was ok.

Then back to the gym to await the doughnuts. Inside the gym the kids tried to get in to the tables setup do the craft - building a picture frame out of wooden stir sticks and the all of two tables they had were packed and unorganized masses of chaos. They managed to finally get a spot, with Abby almost elbowed out of the way by another girl but she held firm to her spot and they barely managed to each get for sticks and a bit of glue. I called the project and said we'll finish it at home as it was gettign riddiculous.

Then about all of maybe two dozen doughnuts arrived. By the time we got to the table, there were just two left and I gave one to another dad and daughter who were giht behind us and one to Abby and Leah announcing they could share it as there wasn't nearly enough for everyone. And, they were out of coffee.

At this point Leah lost it as only a six year old can - she had been excited for days about all three of us sitting together and having a doughnut each,and a coffee for me, and having a good time. Instead, Leah had to give away her doughnut to share with another kid (who it turns out had been mean to her), and got only half a lousy doughnut, her dad didn't get any, and she couldn't even do a craft as it was too busy! (Say this sentence in one breath and you'll get an idea how it sounded).

I comforted her by saying I didn't mind and was at least enjoying being with them in the morning and that we'd do crafts and doughnuts together later. That made her feel a bit better and she shared a bite of her doughnut with me. Abby was similarly annoyed but dealt with it a bit better. I then walked them to class and headed to get something to eat and then off to work.

In short, the planning for this event really and truly sucked.

Next time have at least a little planning and either get some RSVP sheets on the announcement form, or at least expect that when you invite all the hundreds of kids in the school to bring their dads, that a lot of them will bring their dads. Failure to have sufficient doughnuts for such a day advertised as Doughnuts with Dad and only two small round tables for crafts in a school with hundreds of kids is just an automatic fail right there. Don't get the kids excited if you're going to dash their hopes so badly.

On the upside, this was a great way to demonstrate the failure of centralized planning, and that yes, the people in charge aren't necessarily smarter or more competent than you.

I've now promised them that on Saturday morning I'm taking them to Tim Horton's for a real Doughnuts with Dad Day. I can guarantee that at the very least Saturday morning together will not suck and will be what this morning was supposed to be.