A few weeks ago my 8 y/o son's teacher asked if I could chaperone the school field trip. I've never had the chance to chaperone any of his previous field trips because I was either in the hospital giving birth or at home with a baby and no available babysitter. This year, I happened to find a babysitter for my toddler, so I had no problem with telling his teacher I would be happy to chaperone.
We went to see a play at a theater in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. It was
Junie B. Jones. I've never read the books, but I know a lot about them
from working at Waldenbooks for so many years. I've sold countless
Barbara Park books to customers in my area.
As popular as the books are with children, I wondered how much they would enjoy watching a play. In my opinion, these kids might be bored by something like this. I recall my 10th grade English class field trip to see Shakespeare's MacBeth. As much as I enjoyed Shakespeare, the play put me to sleep. Yes, I fell asleep, along with at least two or three other kids sitting in my row. And I was a teenager then, actually interested in literature and story-telling in all forms.
My concerns were unfounded. The actors were silly and fun and got great laughs from the audience. The songs were catchy and the kids clapped along. They genuinely seemed to enjoy the play. Even the boys, who I thought might fidget in their seats from boredom. My son said this was the best field trip ever! Not just because of the play (he was singing the songs at home that evening), but because I went with him. He said he was so happy I was there. I'm just pleased he's still at an age where he wants to be seen with me! But, it was a sweet memory that I'm so glad to give him.
I hope I can chaperone another field trip, for each of my kids, but I'll tell you one thing...I'm bringing tylenol for the bus ride! That I didn't enjoy so much. First, I got a little motion-sick from the swaying of the bus on the highway (the driver drove a little too fast in my opinion!) and the kids were loud. Really loud! It's no wonder my son doesn't seem to hear me at home. I'm wondering if there's some sort of hearing damage from riding on the bus!
Other than that, the trip was enjoyable and the kids in his class were well-behaved and very sweet. Although, it worries me that two of the girls in his class told me when he wasn't looking that they thought my son was cute.
Oh, boy.
Does that start already?
No comments:
Post a Comment