Homeschool Parties

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One of our family’s favorite things to do when we were homeschooling was to have family parties based on something we had been studying. Now that we are grandparents, we get to enjoy some of these again. Last Thursday night we hosted a history costume party for our grandchildren who live in Tennessee.

Ray and I dressed up as Ike and Mamie Eisenhower. “I Like Ike” was the most popular slogan for people who supported Eisenhower for president in 1952. I took these photos at the Eisenhower Presidential Library last fall. Here is an I Like Ike button . . .

. . . and some I Like Ike gloves for ladies.

I’ve seen photos of Ike wearing an “I Like Mamie” button and of Mamie wearing an “Ike Likes Me” button. I made cardboard copies of the buttons for Ray and me. Otherwise Ray and I just looked for what we could find around the house. He dressed up in a sport coat, tie, and his daddy’s hat. I wore my grandmother’s pink gloves, carried the purse I used once as mother of the bride, and wore a pink frilly robe that has been in our dress-up clothes for decades. My choices were based on two facts: 1) Mamie loved pink and 2) she believed that when women reached age fifty they had the privilege of staying in bed until noon.

The children came as Laura Ingalls Wilder, Paul Revere, a fireman, and Tad Lincoln’s pet goat. Our daughter was Ma Ingalls. The five and seven year olds brought dolls dressed up as even more characters, including Abigail Adams and President Trump.

We played history charades. Because the children’s ages are seven, five, three, and four months, our charades were simple things people used to do, such as milking a cow, marching like a soldier, waving a flag, planting a garden, etc. The four-month-old’s charade was being himself.

We also played history tic-tac-toe. The tic-tac-toe board is a giant cloth version and the children threw bean bags into their squares.

Our simple menu was George Washington’s Breakfast (delicious corn meal pancakes from Our Star-Spangled Story), bacon, maple syrup, and grapes.

I love parties — getting ready for them, the parties themselves, and even cleaning up afterwards. I like the feel of my hands in warm dishwater — strange, I know. I also love that Jesus loves parties. His first miracle was at a party. He even helped with the refreshments (John 2:1-11). In Luke 15, Jesus told three parables to show us how important we are to the Father and how much He wants people who are lost to come home. First, He told about a lost sheep, then a lost coin, and finally a lost son. Each parable ends with a celebration. In each case, the person who lost something and then found it wanted to celebrate with other people.

It’s fun to have elaborate celebrations sometimes, but other times its fun to have a simple one like the one we had last Thursday night.

Rejoice always.
1 Thessalonians 5:16

This video includes the fun “I Like Ike” television commercial from 1952.

6-minute Dwight Eisenhower Video

 

 

 

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