Field Trips are for (re) Discovering

Yesterday, I went on a field trip with Anna's class. During the past 2 years of career life, I have not spent much time in Anna's school and I have not been on any field trips.

*Side note: I like having a career a lot, but in a perfect world I could have a career AND take time for field trips and spending time in the classroom and leaving early to make track meets and that sort of thing*

Syracuse was in one of its rainy spells, and it POURED all. day. long. Poured and poured. If I had any sort of outdoor activity planned for the day on my own, I surely would have cancelled. But field trips are rain or shine, even if they take place at the nature center.

My own child was not interested in sitting with me, but with one of the other children vying for her attention, including 2 boys with obvious crushes on her. So I sat with a sweet little girl who did not have a bus partner and we tried to chat amongst the EXTREMELY loud bus antics, of which my own daughter was definitely taking part, if not ring-leading.

Our group was scheduled at the pond first, so we trekked through the very thick and slippery mud (at that point I was wondering if wellies would have been a better choice over hiking boots) and got to the pond where we got nets to catch frogs and other pond life. Only 1 kid actually fell in, which was pretty good considering the terrain. That's not counting one boy who went in, but it was purposefully, in pursuit of a frog, and he went in with his feet on the ground. I spent lots of time trying to demonstrate frog-catching technique that did not involve squeezing the life out of the frog. One little girl grabbed my hand and begged me to help her catch one as she had been unsuccessful. We snuck up on some and she could not manage to net one, so she thrust the net at me: "Will you do it?!" I did, then I held it out to her to make the transfer. At the part where she had to pinch the net together beneath the frog to keep it in, which involved actual contact with the frog, she jerked her hand back and said, "How about you do it?" So we climbed back up the hill to put it in the bucket. At the top, she took the net back and as she let the frog plop into the bucket loudly exclaimed,  "Look everybody! Look I caught a frog all by myself with no help!" At this point, another kid was taking me by the hand asking if I could help. As I started back to the pond's edge the no-help girl appeared by my side and whispered "Thanks!" and smiled up at me before running off with her buddies. Too cute.

Thunder put a stop to the morning and we went inside the center for lunch. After lunch we went on a forest hike where the kids looked for insects and other catchable things.  It was still pouring.

So on this trip, I learned that my raincoat is not so waterproof. I discovered that a boy in Anna's class has more than a crush on her; he loves her so much that he actually parted long pond grass for her to walk past, offered to catch a frog for her, asked to sit by her or be her partner at every opportunity, and stole his arm around her during a group huddle. And I learned that the kids probably had more fun because it was raining and muddy than if it had been sunny and perfect. Actually, I don't think I learned that as much as re-discovered it. The kids had a blast, and I did too, on this day where I would have normally stayed inside. And I re-discovered my love of spending time with elementary school classes.