Cinco de Crazy

I'm not sure what I was thinking today...

But first, let me just say that I LOVE holidays, even the small ones. Maybe it's being with kids for so long and using holidays as an excuse to be creative, decorate or for educational purposes. Or maybe because I used to live in the greatest City in the world and everything is magnified and celebrated to the max. Oh, I do love traditions, too, and hate that I'm missing Cinco de Mayo margaritas with my friend Tammy.

Ok, so yesterday the boys and I made a homemade pinata out of a balloon and newspaper. We also made a banner that said: "Happy Cinco de Mayo 2010", and it was written in little kid handwriting, which is so cute to me. But I wanted all this Mexican mayhem to be educational, too. Cinco de Mayo is when Mexico won the Battle of Puebla in 1862. I decided that we should have teams. Boys vs. girls. So, I made the executive decision yesterday that Mar and I were the French (classy, sophisticated French ladies... you know) and the boys could be Mexican. Well! Wil-man would have none of that and insisted that they were French. We went back and forth for a while, but finally I gave in like the gracious nanny that I am. Mar & I would be the Mexicans. {But then, I realized that we win! Yay!}

So we reenacted the war today. Medium used: water balloons. Girls vs. boys. I was the Mexican Commander General, Ignacio Zaragoza Seguin. Mar was the President Benito Juarez. Wil-man was the French General Charles de Lorencez and P was Napoleon III. I had the kids tell me all the facts before the war began and then I brought out the basket full of water balloons (filled up by yours truly). We were all ready when it dawned on me:

It's essentially me against 2 pre-teen boys in a water balloon fight.

What was I thinking?! Needless to say, I got pelted and so did Mar and we spent most of the time running around screaming like little girls. I guess all is fair in (love and) war but next time I'll think through that. We had fun, though! Kids really do make life so exciting.