Field Trip Day

Today was Field Trip Day in our house! That’s because both kids were going on field trips today. However, Jesse’s field trip is just for today. Jennifer will not return from her field trip until Friday.

For some time now, we have been preparing for today. We have been in communication with Jennifer’s school about the fee, supplies needed, days and times, as well as what the rules are. With Jesse, it was a matter of making sure he had the right clothes to wear, his allergy medicines on hand and the decision made about his lunch. (At first, he was going to get a lunch from school, then he told me that he wanted to take a lunch.)

Both field trips required us to pay a fee. The more expensive one was Jennifer’s. I am glad we were able to make the payment for her trip in two installments, but I had to keep in touch with her school about the deadlines for making the payments.

Another hurdle we had to get through for today was the list of supplies needed for Jen’s trip. We have had some financial problems lately, but we managed to get what we could for her supplies.  Here again, we bought what she needed when the money was available, and we had to cut back on some things so that we could buy her the other stuff she needed. We also had to buy things when we could and not just in one shopping trip. We were able to get her everything she needed in the end and I’m glad we were able to get that taken care of.

Jennifer started getting ready for her trip earlier in the week. She started packing early and I also made sure she left me instructions on how to care for her animals while she is gone. (I went over the instructions before she left in case I had questions.)

Finally, I had to figure out how we were going to get both kids to school at the times they needed to be there. Jennifer had to be at her school an hour and 45 minutes earlier than normal. The problem is, my two kids go to two different schools. I’m usually the one who gets up in the morning, gets the kids up, feeds them, gets them dressed and drives them both to school at the different times they need to leave. But with the time change, I was going to have to call in reinforcements. That’s where my husband came in. Halfway through Jesse’s morning routine, he took over, because I had to leave with Jennifer. (Jesse had to eat his breakfast, brush teeth, take medicine, get his stuff together, etc., while I was gone.) At first I was nervous something might happen and it wouldn’t work out or that we would not get certain things done in time, but we pulled it off. It went over well and both of the kids were on time at the schools that they needed to be there.

After Jesse came home from his field trip, he said he had fun. He said he had liked it. I hope to get the same report from Jennifer when she returns on Friday. It’ll be hard she’ll be so far away for two and a half days, but I’m glad we can stay in touch via text messaging and I know this will be a great experience for her. I know that she really needs to do this thing with her friends. It’s a good chance for her to share such an amazing time of togetherness with her friends and it’ll be memories that will last them long after they all graduate next month.