Book Fair awesomeness

So, Friday afternoon I had signed up to volunteer setting up the scholastic book fair at kiddo's school. I remember them from when I was younger, and couldn't wait to relive that loveliness; the giant metal rolling racks with new special books I couldn't wait to tear into, the thrill of having my special envelop of book money that my parents bestowed upon me. Back then, my favourite thing was the cardboard box sets of advanced readers that contained 4 or 5 chapter books. Granted, my poor folks had to deal with me voraciously reading through all of them in a matter of a week or two, but the thrill of that day, picking out the new set...ah, that was childhood.
I only remembered a 2 or 3 rack set up from my youth, so needless to say I was a bit overwhelmed when we set up more than 12 racks and tons of covered tables for this thing! Book fairs have definitely come a looooong way since I was coming up! This one had everything from the early reader board books and beautiful hardcover Caldacott winners to shelves of advanced readers (no more sets, tho), and even a section of adult books. Definitely impressive! The parent horrifiers tho were the "school supplies", also known as stupid little eraser chochkies, scented highlighters, and pens with googly eyes. God there was a bunch of that crap. We had to set up two racks of just that junk, and I had horrible visions of children wasting their money, and frazzling teacher nerves.
As we set up, there were two other moms there, and I got to see a little more variety of the "volunteer mommy" clique. One was a very sweet gal who oogled the star wars books with me (yay for nerd parents!), and of course, one was a horrible gal who felt the need to talk down to me at every damn turn. She had to set up her display just so, and make damn sure we knew she had sat in many a book fair in the past. The talking down was the most ingratiating, because this woman had no idea who I was or what I did, she just automatically assumed that since I'm wearing giant boots and double braids, I must be a blithering idiot (and illiterate, no less). No, I am not up to speed on any of the young readers, my child's only in first grade. It's not like she read the entire Harry Potter series, now did she?! Pht, amatuer.
The librarian, a gloriously gay man with a delightfully bitter sense of humour and probably a higher-brow education than a normal elementary librarian would be afforded, asked if I would be willing to come in and "work" the book fair come Monday. Well, because of this gal's holier than thou attitude, and a few of the other sour puss parents I had met, well, I almost said no. But the poor dude looked a little on the desperate side, and I didn't want to damn a well meant event just because I had to deal with a Miss Pissypants or two. So I said yes, I'd make myself available for the morning session.
When I wandered in this morning, thankfully no Pissypants were around, only my fellow nerdamom. I had such a great time, I happily stayed through the whole day. The kids! Ah, those awesome kids. Our first set was a group of 5th graders. They hovered over the advanced readers and interactive books, oohing and aaahing, and frantically scribbling on their wishlists (a piece of paper the kids can write their desired titles and prices on, then take home to hound their parents for cash for, since the fair went on all week). I was very impressed by the selection they offered, from Neil Gaiman's Graveyard book to some other great "spooky" selections I'd never heard of. The offerings actually seemed quite scifi/fantasy heavy (thankfully no Stephanie Meyer), and I was tickled to see a few of them asking about the latest tales. Of course the girls went gaga over the personalized journal sets, and stocked up on some new hot title called The Lightening Thief.
We quickly worked through lunch, and as other classes poured in, a few of the kids I recognized from Anthony's bus would come scampering over and say hi. They are such sweet kids! They would ask which books I was getting, and I showed them the bulging bag I had already picked out. I love having formed a little relationship with those kids, because they are definitely some amazing lil tykes.
The best, tho, was when the first graders came in. My son's class isn't due until wednesday, but many of these kids recognized me (and I them) from the walkathon when I had signed off on their lapcards and cheered them on like a goofball. Right before the class entered, the Pissypants came in for her shift. She was shocked to see me there, and moreso to know I had been there all day. I guess she just came to the realization that with all my free time, I can be a "super volunteer" as much as she. But before she could get out a snarky "oh, it's you", the class came pouring in, and I was on the receiving end of excited hand waving and leg hugs. As I had little hands pulling me around to help them fill out their wishlists, I looked over to see her stationary behind the counter, looking a little bewildered. And it dawned on me...be it my younger appearance and dress, or just simply that I am as bouncy as they are, these kids have deemed me to be one of the "cool moms". And I don't think she's received that honor. HA!
My knees are killing me right now, from all the time I spent bent over helping random 7 year olds figure out what they could buy with their exact amount of cash. It cracks me up to see how far they will attempt to stretch those bucks! They'd sit there, vexing over which title to get, then eventually settle on 2 books for $8 rather than 1 for $15, and then calculate how many little pencils and erasers they can get with their change. Many of them would scribble onto their wishlist a variety of books, and the smaller ones would politely come up to me carting a few titles and ask me to record it on their list for them. My favourite little asian track star was there, too, and I discovered she is apparently a voracious overacheiver in every aspect; she filled out 5 wishlists. If I was her mom, I swear I'd probably buy every damn title on there, too, she is just head poppingly adorable. Yes, she wears pigtails.
One little girl almost broke my heart. Her parents had given her a check for $15, so she came in on her regular session and her recess trying to decide what she wanted. She completely ignored the money sucking stationary sets, chosing to instead ponder some lovely thick books (she was only about 10, so I applauded her ambitious titles). She finally settled on two, but couldn't seem to wrap her head about the tax, so she held her breath, hoping she had enough. The total came to $15.31, and she looked about ready to cry. I quickly shoved my hands into my back pocket and fished out my coffee change from the morning, and whispered "Look who has .35 cents! I'll play fairy godmother today." The beaming smile on her face was worth so much more than worthless change collecting lint.
The librarian and I had a great time, and he eagerly accepted my offer to come back midweek. I'm chaperoning the feild trip tomorrow, and then will return to the book fair on Wednesday. Funny, the snarky mom could hardly figure out how to ring up anything (thank you, years of retail experience), and was noticeably absent from the rest of the volunteer schedules...