Keokuk kindergartners host spa day for their mothers, grandmothers

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Opal Edwardson gives her mom, Whitney, a scalp massage during a MaSpa event at St. Vincent School in Keokuk May 9.

By Lindsay Steele
The Catholic Messenger

KEOKUK — Kindergartners pampered their moms at a “MaSpa” earlier this month at St. Vincent School in Keokuk.

“Their moms spend the day taking care of them and I was hoping that having roles reversed would open the kindergarteners’ eyes to how amazing their moms are,” said teacher Maddie Marlin. She got the idea from Principal Shari Bozorgzad, a former kindergarten teacher. “We took the idea and ran with it.”

Marlin worked with the students to plan three stations: massage, hair and nails. “The kids and I wrote down ideas of stations that we would go to a spa for and what supplies we may need to get. They told me to get scalp massagers, toe separators, cookies and juice!” Students made appointment card-style invitations, a “MaSpa” business sign, station baskets and labels. Tea lights and spa music set the mood. 

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“I wanted to do the MaSpa because it sounded fun,” said student Haley Wilcox. Classmate Roland McVeigh said he thought his mom would enjoy the spa and “enjoy being pretty.”

At the MaSpa, students used scented lotion to massage their mom’s hands and arms, then rubbed shoulders and temples. At a hair-brushing station, students offered scalp massages and styled their loved one’s hair. Guests also received manicures, pedicures or both from their kindergartner. Students read poems they wrote about their moms and shared refreshments.

Painting nails was a highlight for many of the students. Opal Edwardson said she liked “being able to put a braid in mommy’s hair.”

The spa lasted about 45 minutes. All of the students had a guest to pamper. “We had one special grandma step in” for a student whose mother was unable to attend, Marlin said.

Mom Kristi Anderson said the kindergartners spoke softly and attentively to their loved ones. “It was really super sweet.” She enjoyed getting to know the other moms at the MaSpa, but her favorite part was spending one-on-one time with her daughter, Zolee Anderson. “It was really a special day.”

“The MaSpa event was awesome,” said parent Whitney Edwardson. Marlin and the students “went above and beyond for us moms!”

Marlin hopes the students will take some of the things they learned at MaSpa and “appreciate all of the little things their moms do for them each and every day.” She believes the event was a way to “put the act of Jesus washing his disciples’ feet in action. Jesus served and continues to serve us all; we need to use our strengths to serve those around us.”

 Marlin hopes to make the MaSpa a yearly tradition. “I imagine it growing and adding more ideas as the kids have them!”


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