Teacher Appreciation Day

The Make-shift Lunch Room

I still have images of myself as a kid going to the staff room at school on 1st September each year distributing presents that my mother got me for my teachers. And she could sometimes get the weirdest stuff like plastic photo albums (without any photos).

This year, my kids' school had their 1st Teacher Appreciation Day under the new Principal. The parents would take over the teachers' painful duties in the canteen and playground during lunch break and/or make them lunch. I volunteered to make lunch as I honestly am not at all fond of children (sometimes not even my own) and the thought of being surrounded by lots of screaming ones for more than 10 mins gave me the shudders. I think having the boobs tattoed would probably be less painful.

Main Courses and Sides

We had a few main dishes, sides and desserts. Sh and R both made Chicken Biryani (but very different ones) while I did a Pork and Prawn in Ginger and Sesame Oil as well as a Singapore Chicken Curry. H made a Vegan and a Vegetarian dish and it was my regret that I only got to try a bit of the melted cheese that was topping those very yummy-looking Stuffed Zucchinis. There was also an exotic Lebanese Kibbe courtesy of G and a hearty Serbian Bean Soup cooked up by D. Of course there were also salads and lots of yummy desserts of which the most popular was the no-bake Strawberry Cheesecake made by N. I tried one of the Vegan Chocolate Muffins that L made and you know what, maybe I would be able to have my cake and eat it too because they really didn't suffer from the lack of butter.

The Desserts

The teachers seemed to appreciate being able to sit down and have lunch free of the kids. The table was nicely set up and even had lovely flowers from M's garden. And the mothers got to enjoy what's left of the buffet so it was a good deal for everyone. A few of the older kids came over hoping to enjoy some of the leftovers (I do not blame them for trying after seeing what they had for lunch) and we had to turn them down or risk having the rest of the school turn up.

Stuffed Zucchinis
Lebanese Kibbe Pork and Prawn Stir Fry

So it was a good idea on JA's part and the PTA executed it to success. Only thing lacking, as I've told Rb, was the children's participation. Wouldn't have them give away empty photo albums to their teachers but maybe they could collectively create a nice present and complete the appreciation of these brave souls whose job is to educate our children (without losing their sanity).