TW is not at work today. Instead, she is sitting on a bus with a bunch of second graders watching her most favorite movie of all time, (ha), Madagascar! The bus is on its way to the Florida Aquarium. Don’t you just love field trips? Or not? I was trying to come up with some fun field trip memories and coming up a little bit empty which seemed odd, but upon reflection it’s not so odd.
When Jenn was in pre-school, Kinder and First Grade we lived in the Philippines. No field trips, except for mini trips to various squadrons to see what the daddies (and the very rare mommy) did at work. We were there during the time of Cori Aquino and there were constant shootings outside of the base, military members kidnapped, lots of security threats. We traveled as a family while in the Philippines but buses full of school kids roaming the country was not something the DoD or the DoDDS wanted to deal with.
Then we moved onto northern California and Jenn and Chris did manage to go on some field trips. I attended very few which again seems odd until I think about it. First issue – I had an infant and a husband who was gone all of the time and I didn’t then nor do I now do the daycare thing. Second issue – I was really not all that into field trips at school because I was constantly taking a Girl Scout troop on some trip, somewhere.
Then it was onto Panama (think Canal not Florida) where again the field trips were few and far between for both Chris and Jenn, which seems odd and upon reflection still seems odd. There were some – to the canal, to Panama Viejo, to Summit Gardens but it seems like there weren’t too many. Michelle was in pre-school, Kinder and First Grade and I did attend quite a few field trips with her class. But again, I avoided field trips if I could because I was always taking a Girl Scout troop or a Cub Scout troop on some trip, somewhere.
After that, New Jersey. Ack. More field trips for the kids in this location; Liberty Bell, Statue of Liberty, etc… I attended one trip to the Statue of Liberty and another to a farm and that’s about it. Again the Girl Scout trip thing.
In SC and here in FL I avoided field trips completely, yea me! My pre-teen/teen wasn’t all that hot for field trips in either location. She has crowd issues and noise issues and by the time she hit 12, field trips held no fascination or fun – just anxiety. I can understand that. Being surrounded by noisy, over-excited kids can make it difficult to relax, to have fun, or to learn.
I’m betting TW comes home with lots of fun stories about the trip and I know E will. And I’ll be almost jealous that I didn’t get to go. Almost.
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