A Nutritious Christmas Holiday

Tomorrow is the kids' last day of school before Christmas the holidays.

I'm the room mother for Steven's class and along with a neighbor, we have been planning their class party.

Things are a bit more challenging this year when it comes to party food. We have been instructed by the school to serve healthy meals, no more than one sweet treat, no more than 30% of calories from fat or sugar, only the sweet treat doesn't have to meet that criteria.

Sean's class has a room mother who follows the rules, so they're having pretzels, Go-gurt, cut fruit and vegetables, water and their treat is a cookie.

For Steven's class, my neighbor is making Spritskansar (Swedish butter cookies), that counts as our sweet treat.

Whole fruit is OK, so I made Fruktsoppa (Swedish fruit soup) and didn't add any sugar, so we're counting that as whole fruit.

They kids' school sent home a flyer that said that flavored milk is as good as plain milk, so we're counting the mint hot cocoa as flavored milk.

As for the Goldfish crackers, they're not whole grain but they're low in sugar, and I know from personal experience that it is possible for a 14-month child to lead a perfectly healthy life after having lived on absolutely nothing but Goldfish crackers for a month. They must be healthy, right?

Sean's new hairdo

The kids will be decorating gingerbread houses. Last night I made about a gallon of royal icing, and my neighbor came over and she and I put together 30 little houses made from graham crackers and glued together with the icing I made.

They will also be making festive holiday ornaments that may or may not be intended for a Christmas Holiday tree.

I'm not very good at being politically correct, but unlike in the lower grades, people are most definitely not standing in line to be room parents for kids in the sixth grade, so hopefully my job is safe.

And it's always easier to ask forgiveness than permission.

- Kathleen