The Elder had a field trip yesterday, and from her perspective, it was a good day. I had the Younger in tow, so I dropped her off for attendance and herding purposes before driving to the site and meeting up with them for the day. This turned out GREAT.
1. The Younger and I got there a solid 30 minutes before the bus, which gave us time to do some fun things on our own.
2. I got to take both girls back home with me in my car, which saved me frantic pick-up/drop-off moments since I had class last night.
3. I got all of the benefits of being a chaperone with none of the duties of being a chaperone. It was like being the cool aunt at Christmas.
4. I was able to hang back and watch my kid doing her thing when she wasn't even paying attention to me.
5. The Younger and I left the class a couple of times to explore places exclusively designed for littler hands.
The trip didn't start GREAT for the Elder, though. Once I got to the site, I texted another kid's mom so that she would let me know when the bus arrived and I could meet up with them. Then she wrote back right away with this:
Other mom: "Does your kid get carsick? She's up with the teacher at the front of the bus now. I held a bag for her. My daughter was sitting with us in the seat, but she bailed."
Me: "Ha! Yeah, she does get carsick sometimes."
I may have just laughed at her. Right after my kid just puked in a plastic bag that this other mom was holding.
I definitely read that first text from her wrong.
So I thought that my kid was a bit motion sicknessy but didn't realize she, you know, actually went full throttle on that.
It also turns out that this other mom is fully on the squeemish side herself. Lesson learned: Read those texts more carefully before laughing at the other person's plight.
But this whole scenario also served a purpose other than sending me into flashback mode to my 5th grade field trip to Chicago and my first airplane flight AND my second flight. And then there was that time on the Tilt-o-Whirl...(fortunately, that one ended A-OK).
So basically, my kid comes by her tender tummy honestly.
But a change of scenery and a fresh perspective does wonders when we're overwhelmed, doesn't it? Sometimes, we just need to change our seat, fan our face, take a few deep breaths, and let someone give us a hug while they try their best to distract us from the trouble at hand. People, we are called to nurse and assist in a number of ways. When you see someone needing some help (even if there's something yucky happening in the moment...just deal with that later), you have to take that person's hand.
And on a lighter note, I suggested to the Younger that she practice writing her name on a paper that she was coloring. But she was having none of that, proclaiming "No Mommy, I want to write it in French." [scribble scribble scribble]
'Cause, you know, those letters are different in French...?!?
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