Field Trip!

Yesterday, I went apple picking with a bunch of 3-5 year olds, and I had a ton of fun!

Growing up, my mother always worked full time. She always had demanding schedules. I remember begging her to come chaperone our field trips, but she always had to work. Looking back, I expect she didn't want to use up one of her vacation / personal days to ride a school bus and deal with a bunch of unruly kids.

So while I've been whining to friends that I could use a day off, when I said I was using the day to chaperone a field trip, everyone told me I was crazy.



I loved it. It was so completely different than the everyday office job--I got to go outside, I got to be silly, I got to see the excitement of the kids for something as simple as riding a school bus. Plus, I got to experience it all with my 3-year-old, seeing him interact with his little friends and holding his hand as we walked through a spooky house.

I then came home and had the afternoon to myself. I did a little shopping and a little cleaning, and I had some completely nonproductive time surfing online. But even the nonproductive time was productive. In this crazy life, I hardly get any alone time. I feel guilty for downtime. But stealing away those moments helps me to meet the next challenges head on.

So back to work today; hopefully, when things start to get crazy, I can just think back to sitting on the hayride with a bunch of little guys and try to reclaim that calm.

And, as a bonus, I only have 4 days left in my workweek.