Field Trip

4-18-14

Field trips are super fun, but exhausting.

It was nice to be able to help out. There was a lot of parents who were there, but most seem to treat it as more of an outing with their child, not as a way to help out the teacher. Don’t get me wrong, I did make a point of being able to hang with Dax a bit, but I spent a lot of time herding kids. I love that, actually. I like being able to have conversations with the other kids, especially knowing that these are kids I will watch grow up for the most part since they will most likely be in more of Dax’s classes as he grows.

I also had to break up a fight. It seemed like mostly a heated argument, but I was concerned it was heading towards physical soon. I started separating the kids involved, moving them away from one another and placing them in other spots of the line they were supposed to be in. I addressed the one boy (thank goodness for name tags) and asked him to go to the front of the line.

He froze.

He didn’t argue, he didn’t protest verbally, but he did just stand still. It was as if he was playing dead (an amusing note is that we had just spent time learning about possums). I said his name calmly, but firmly and told him once again to move to the front of the line. It was as if no one was sure who would break first. The kids around us fell silent, as did the other chaperones. I am sure there was the assumption by some that I would give up based on the kid practically ignoring me. These people were clearly not familiar with how much of a fighter Dax used to be. If I can outlast his protests, this kid was nothing.

After my fourth request, he finally moved up there. He wasn’t quick, but he moved. He looked almost close to tears, but truly I wasn’t upset with him. I think he was actually the one being picked on and I needed him to get away from the others. It was a strange exchange and the one main chaperone mom (the one who really knew all the kids and was very involved) gave me a supportive smile and nod and I knew I had done well in the situation. Yay!

All of the parents and teachers I talked to praised Dax like crazy. He is quite the kid. They told me how incredibly polite he is and sweet and of course, holy crap adorbs. I couldn’t agree more!

The teachers who were there knew Ken and I from many other volunteer situations and were super happy that Ken and I helped. Ken has his booming voice that seems to make all the kids stop and pay attention to him instantly. I could wander around all the kids and chat them all up but keep them in line. We also made the trek out to the bus (which I swear practically parked back at the school) to get the lunches for everyone. I felt so very much so part of the Adams family. It was awesome!

Since the parents all drove separate, we helped load the kids at 1 and then headed over to MBAH to pick up Lycos. Poor pup was cremated back at the end of January and we had not gone and picked her up. It is nice that she is home now and in her proper place in the mausoleum.

I managed to also get over to the 99 cent store yesterday and put together Easter baskets for the boys. I was pleasantly surprised when there were a fair amount of name brand items there which made me more comfortable with the chocolate choices for their baskets. The boys have never been big fans of the knockoff brands and really I don’t blame them. I didn’t want to get them things that would just be thrown out, but I also didn’t want to spend gobs of money on the baskets. Yay 99 cents! I didn’t even have to go to other places. That made it all worthwhile.

I have plans this evening to go out to the piano bar in Long Beach for Kam’s birthday. As much as I want to celebrate with her, I don’t know that I want to go out tonight. I have so much to do. I need to get the house in order since tomorrow my folks will be over to color eggs. I also need to make the house ready for Sunday’s egg hunt. Saturday afternoon we are going to Wondercon, so I don’t see me having much time. It will be a busy weekend.

I have been using my pot for the stressful afternoons. It has been nice. I don’t feel too stoned and I am actually quite functional, which is perfect. I like the strain I am using and hopefully will be able to find it again once this runs out.

I got the costume for our region. It is fantastic! It isn’t bad as far as comfort is concerned, and I was pleased that the pants are not stitched into the head since I really didn’t want to wear those. Now I can wear other pants which are more comfy. Plus, the head comes off very easily which will allow for me to remove it to do some work during the registration. The boys are super jazzed about it and want to wear the costume part of the time, too, which I am all for. It will be a fun registration this time around!

Ok, I suppose I should do something useful today.