The Great Menorah Fail

As you may have already heard, we had a menorah fail today. More specifically, Morah Amy had a menorah fail.

The kids worked so hard on making salt-dough menorahs yesterday afternoon. I've done this project in the past with only decent results. I like the home-spun feel to the project, but the dough hasn't been as easy to work with as I'd like. So, this year I tried a new, improved recipe. Or so I thought.

The menorahs all collapsed today. I tried to glue them back together with a glue gun. They collapsed even more. I tried attaching them to craft sticks. They continued to defy me with their collapsing might.

I had to tell the kids.

"We need to talk," I began. "Who has ever made a mistake?" Most hands went up. (Yes, I said "most hands." Apparently some of the children have not reached this milestone.) "Well, I made a mistake today. A big one. You know the menorahs you worked so hard on?"

A few faces fell. (The faces of the kids who were paying attention.)

"Today when I was baking them in the oven, they all fell apart." More faces fell. A few kids really looked like they were going to cry. I didn't blame them.

"I'm really, really sorry. I don't blame you for being upset or mad. I know how hard you worked on them. You might not even forgive me right away, but I hope you will forgive me."

One of the saddest faces piped up. "It's ok, Morah Amy. I forgive you."

"We forgive you!" chimed the rest of the class. (Well, at least most of the class.)

At this point, they had many helpful suggestions about how to fix them, which they enthusiastically (and simultaneously) began to share.  I promised them we would figure out a new project and I would make sure they would have menorahs to take home. With the help of my friend The Bible Belt Balabusta and Lucy's dad (our source for amazing recycled building materials) I found a new project that we should be able to finish in time for the first candle.

At the end of the day I told the kids about plan b. Hands shot up.

"Will we be able to light it?" one child asked.

"Yes!" I replied.

Another hand shot up. "Will we be able to light it IN REAL LIFE?"

"Yes," I smiled. "In real life. I promise. Or at least, I promise to do my best. I'll try not to let you down again."

what they were supposed to look like

 On a brighter note, we made a HUGE sparkly menorah with our sixth grade buddies that we will be presenting to David Marks tomorrow morning at the YMCA for display in the lobby. I don't have a photo yet, but I will tomorrow. It's in our hallway right now, if you want to check it out at drop-off tomorrow.

Thanks for having such understanding kids. I really will try not to let them down again.