I always end up volunteering for my child's class field trips, partly out of sheer guilt that I don't participate in other school activities and partly because, my daughter loves when I go with her. Not every day, you get to be a mini-celebrity in the eyes of your child and I wouldn't want to miss that chance for the world.
Now, to the trip. We boarded a public train to San Francisco, noisy 2nd graders, teachers, parents like me, et al. My group had about 5 kids. I don't know why this happens only to me, but I always get the brattiest kids in the class. What gives? No clue, but as a result I always end up with a permanently jarred larynx. Like a broken record, I go,"Follow the line". "Hold hands". "No, no lunch yet". Only about 60,000 times. Sigh.
But, the bratty kids turned out to be the lively ones too. When we went to the art museum, it was quite a comic scene. The museum had a docent to narrate mythological stories to the children. She was very good at story-telling, but with the kids constantly interrupting, correcting and questioning her, the poor lady was a nervous wreck at the end. She did politely comment on how knowledgeable they were, but you could see the strain as she mopped her brow too many times. It musn't have been very pleasant. People pay to come to a reputed museum and hang on to her every historical fact and treat it like gospel, and here, a bunch of noisy, boisterous, 7 yr olds were ripping her stories apart. Side note - The kids were factually correct, all the time.
Anyways, all was well that ended well and we finally landed back in one piece, And, I had to admit, it was quite a blast. Especially, when my daughter gave me a big grateful, "I love you," kind of hug that melted my heart away.
Now, to the trip. We boarded a public train to San Francisco, noisy 2nd graders, teachers, parents like me, et al. My group had about 5 kids. I don't know why this happens only to me, but I always get the brattiest kids in the class. What gives? No clue, but as a result I always end up with a permanently jarred larynx. Like a broken record, I go,"Follow the line". "Hold hands". "No, no lunch yet". Only about 60,000 times. Sigh.
But, the bratty kids turned out to be the lively ones too. When we went to the art museum, it was quite a comic scene. The museum had a docent to narrate mythological stories to the children. She was very good at story-telling, but with the kids constantly interrupting, correcting and questioning her, the poor lady was a nervous wreck at the end. She did politely comment on how knowledgeable they were, but you could see the strain as she mopped her brow too many times. It musn't have been very pleasant. People pay to come to a reputed museum and hang on to her every historical fact and treat it like gospel, and here, a bunch of noisy, boisterous, 7 yr olds were ripping her stories apart. Side note - The kids were factually correct, all the time.
Anyways, all was well that ended well and we finally landed back in one piece, And, I had to admit, it was quite a blast. Especially, when my daughter gave me a big grateful, "I love you," kind of hug that melted my heart away.