Field Trip

I chaperoned a field trip at my daughter's school today.  It's been a while since I rode on a big yellow school bus. It was a little bit surreal. Either my hips are wider than they were a few decades ago, or all school buses have been re-engineered with extra-narrow aisles.  I'm going to assume it is the latter.  Also, it's amazing how easily one forgets how now noisy a bus full of kids can be. As the bus bounced (and I do mean bounced) down the highway to our destination, I wondered silently about just how much "lift and support" a lady should expect from her brassiere.  I also wondered why I had not brought any ibuprofen for the headache I expected to develop shortly. 

My daughter was excited to have me along for the trip.  Earlier in the morning, as A brushed her teeth, I may have implied that I might just find myself overcome with the urge to square-dance in front of her friends. I was going to see if I could get a couple other moms involved in order to have as many mortified second graders as possible. I was able to keep my dancing feet in check, though. There were quite a few parents, so I really only had to keep an eye on two or three kids. We went to a production of "The Little Mermaid," as performed by a local dance company.  Dance show = very little dialogue = moderately bored kids.  Knowing that their options were few as far as amusing themselves, the kids used the only avenue open to them: saying that they had to use the bathroom. They weren't allowed to go unless they were accompanied by an adult, so I found myself embarking on three separate excursions to the bathroom with various second graders. I couldn't really blame them. I have to say that they really are at a cute age. They all have these ginormous front teeth (adult teeth) but they have the same little faces they had last year.  I'm sure everything will catch up in due time, as evolution and biology require.

The best part of the show was when the song "Kiss the Girl" came on. Multiple boys, at the very same time, whispered, "Ewwwwww."  I figure that as long as they think kissing is gross, that's a good thing. I'm hoping they observe that policy for at least the next decade or so.

It was a fun little field trip - definitely different from the ones I went on as a kid. We lived within spitting distance of Washington DC, so we were hauled to the Smithsonian about three times a year for field trips. It seemed like there was always a worksheet to be filled out, just to make sure you didn't try to have too much fun while you were there.

Of course, that was a long time ago . . . before they re-engineered all the school buses.

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