A Very Happy May Day

I vaguely remember being in grade school and making May Baskets to leave at people's doors. I don't much remember what we did, or what we put in them, but I remember the point was to leave them on someone's porch and not be caught. Kind of like a secret-admirer Valentine of sorts. 

Well, while standing in the kitchen today I saw a whole gaggle of grade schoolers on a walk around the block. There were the requisite teachers at the front and back of the pack, and each kid was carrying something that looked like an upside-down party hat. Nothing clicked as to the day, and I just attributed it to the fact that teachers get stir crazy, too, this close to the end of the year. We're only a little over a block from two different schools and we see a lot of kids around, after all. 

Later on, though, when Christopher came home and went to check the mail, he found one of those cones hanging on our front door. He brought it in, saying "Look what we got!" and we carefully inspected our surprise. The May Basket cone itself was made of heavy wrapping paper, with a "straw" ribbon for a handle. 

Sticking out the top was a flower composed of a few loops of recycled newspaper held together by a long green pipe cleaner and a button center. A tip of the cone revealed 3 hard candies (which must have been hard for grade schoolers to give up!). And, peeking out from inside were two flyers which gave us the answer to where the May Basket had come from: A Kenny Community School brochure and a small flyer listing all of this spring's upcoming events. 

It was a small thing, and I'm sure that the May Baskets cost almost nothing to make, but it certainly caught our attention and made us smile. The Basket is currently hanging on our buffet, and I've marked my calendar for a few of the upcoming events. After all, if the kids were able to go door-to-door and invite us, it would be rude not to attend, wouldn't it?