Yesterday was the boys’ first school field trip. Yet another rite of passage! I volunteered to be a chaperone, and holy smokes, did it wear me out. I was assigned two kids to watch, two little girls, E and L. Somehow, having to look for two different faces seemed a million times more difficult than looking for one face, times three. And L was a runner, which I’m not really used to. I’d look away and next thing you know, she’d have her head in the lion’s mouth. {Not literally. But I looked there first.} But I loved talking to both of the girls, they were just so funny. In fact, I love talking to all of the 3 and 4 year olds in their class. What a great age!
So the field trip was to the zoo, and the day started by me bringing the boys to school and hanging out in their classroom and helping out a bit. Miles was convinced every time I moved a muscle that I was going to leave, so that was a little stressful. He threw a shitfit when I went to the adult’s bathroom. But soon enough, we were on our way to the bus! The boys were pretty good about staying with “their” adults, as long I remained in eyeshot.
Oliver getting his frog hat fitted:
Circle time before we left:
As far as the kids were concerned, I think we could have just taken a trip on the bus, because riding in a school bus with no suspension on New Orleans’s bumpy streets is the MOST FUN THING EVER. (When we got home from school, all they wanted to tell George about was the bus ride.)
When we got to the zoo, we put the hats on they’d made, and each of the six classes performed a little song. Oh, my heart! Another first, the first school performance!
Oh, you want video? Heh.
After the songs, we took the kids to have a snack and use the restroom. And after that was zoo time! We didn’t have time to see a ton of animals, but I was shocked at how much fun the boys had in the petting zoo portion. They’re terrified of most animals, but I guess goats aren’t too scary.
Total ham child:
And so, after being there for a few hours, we left.
And I was exhausted exhausted! I left (gratefully) to go back to work, and with a renewed respect for the teachers.
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Niki
Those little girl dresses are beyond adorable! I want a little girl so I can send her to french school and make her wear those dresses every single day. 🙂
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Wendy
I’m so jealous of your nice weather, short sleeves and dresses?! Lucky.
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Pam Johnston
Field trips were always so much fun, getting to know your children’s classmates and friends! I was wondering, can their friends and classmates tell them apart and does it bother them if they get called the wrong name? Just wandering…..what an amazing, beautiful life you have. So unique!
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pyjammy
I quizzed my girls on who the boys were, and they would either say, “I don’t know” or throw out a (wrong) guess. Ah well, hopefully when they’re older…
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Melissa
Oh my gosh, those dresses, are you kidding me?!?! Adorable! When I was teaching, I hated field trips, they are so insainly stressful trying to keep track of all the kiddos. We didn’t have parents come along, so it was usually me and one other teacher with 20 four and five year olds. Glad you all had a great time.
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Erin
Whenever I do field trips with my girls they just give me my two to watch. Once they gave me an extra boy. I love the kid, but it was so different always looking for three than two!
And it’s universal, the bus ride is the MOST fun part of any field trip for preschoolers!
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Andrea
OMG! Totally moving to N.O to send my children to French school so I can get my daughter into that dress every day! Do they have to wear them every day? My daughter (who wears a uniform) would throw a holy fit over that! But so CUTE!
I love chaperoning field trips and I love going back to my quiet office with adults afterwards even more!
Teachers are saints, or pretty darn close – ESPECIALLY pre-K teachers (or Montessori primary teachers as that’s what I have experience with!)
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pyjammy
Oh yeah, those are the pre-k girls’ uniforms! Soooo adorable!
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