Another great parent/child event is to host a scrapbook night. In about two and a half hours, each parent/child can complete a small (5" x 7") scrapbook that preserves the fun stories and memories from childhood, grade school, high school, etc. All you need is space (cafeteria?)and photographs; you contract with a scrapbook instructor who supplies all the rest. It's a fun activity that brings people together by sharing stories, and everyone leaves with a permanent memory and keepsake! E-mail me with any further questions. Good luck!

I am glad to hear that....the point in my last message was just that sometimes little things like what the event is titled can really stress out the kids (and parents) unnecessarily. Good luck with your event!

Thanks for your help. We have decided to go with a Hawaiian theme.

Just a note:In our invitation we said "Mom or other special person in your life".

Just a word of caution...maybe when WE were kids, mother/daughter or father/son nights were different... I'm a stepmom, and my daughter has a stepmom so I have seen this from a couple of perspectives. My stepdaughter (who is 15 and I've only been the stepmom for a couple years) doesn't have the option of inviting her "real mom" to events as she lives in another state, so (even though she does include me in events) she prefers to go to functions with her dad.

My daughter (who is 10 and has had a stepmom since she was 5)will usually try to invite both of us but ask me first because she doesn't want to offend anyone. (she's also done far too many "extra crafts" for Mother's & Father's Day, Christmas, etc. because she doesn't want any of the parents to feel slighted).

These girls also have friends with various parental configurations and for the most part they all tend to get timid because they really do want to please everyone and some parents can get really touchy about "their" kid. If you have an event like this..its always best to make the children feel comfortable with who they are bringing.

Here are a couple of things that we have done. First, we had a "Make a Deal" night. This required a lot of preparation on the part of the PTO, but it was well worth it. We had one of the male teachers dressed in a tux, on stage with 3 large boxes, wrapped, and turned upside down on tables. The "host" would ask for various items from the Mom's purses (just like Monty Hall used to do). The first daughter to get to him at the stage with that item got to choose box 1, 2, or 3. The "hostess" on stage stayed behind the boxes and replaces prizes as they were chosen. The PTO purchased some prizes, but we had some really great prizes donated from businesses around town. Things like flower arraingements, restaurant gift certificates, movie tickets, beauty salon certificates, even a weekend at a local bed and breakfast. Everyone had a great time that evening. None of the mothers knew about this what we were doing, so they couldn't bring extra things in their purse to cheat.

Another time we had a line dancing evening. Everything was decorated in western decor and we asked the Moms and daughters to dress for the occasion (jeans, western scarves, etc.) We had a couple of the teachers that do line dancing up on stage teaching line dancing to anyone that wanted to participate on the "dance floor" below. It was a fun evening for all and didn't take a lot of work from the PTO to set it up.

Good luck!

Greetings! Has anyone out there in cyberspace chaired a Mother/daughter luncheon/event? We are open to any ideas. We've done the following themes: bowling, beach party, Mexican, pajama party...all fun but we need something new. Perhaps an old-fashioned Spring Tea? Any inspiration would be great. Thanks for your time and input.