The Field Trip


My 7 yo was very excited about her upcoming field trip from school. On the weekend before the trip, she came to the shop… without the usual whining. After all, she was going to select the junk food to carry on the trip. Next item on her list? A sanitizer. She told me the school asked that every kid bring one to clean their hands before eating, but who really knows if that’s true? Anyways, I agreed. When we couldn’t find one in the shop, she suggested we check a medical store. Wow! She knows which shop sells what? I don’t like where this is headed…

Her excitement mounted as D-Day approached. That in turn meant that I couldn’t resist telling to not go. “Why?”, she demanded. “What if you get lost?”, I countered. “C’mon”, she said dismissively, “I’ve been on these trips when I was younger and I came back then, didn’t I?”. “But you were also more obedient then”, I said. Silence. I’d won that round of banter. A rare victory, one I will savour.

The night before, she didn’t sleep well at all. In the morning, I told her that she’d probably be too sleepy all day and thus ruin her outing. To which she replied, “Don’t worry. M’am said that those who were over-excited and didn’t sleep can sleep in the bus on the way.” Great, she has contingency plans for such things.

Then she remembered that she needed a cap. That she couldn’t point out the previous day, I grumbled. With her mom in the US, neither of us could find the cap. So we dashed to a friend’s and borrowed one. And then she insisted on checking if her I-card was in the bag, something she never cares about on any other day. But today, they wouldn’t take you on the trip without the I-card…

On the way to the bus stand, I teased her saying that if the bus was late, she’d miss the trip. With a smug look, she replied:
“The field trip waits for school buses that are late. But they won’t wait for private buses that come late. Or for kids who get dropped.”
Ok, kiddo, you got that covered.

Sadly in life, when you’re that excited about something, the actual experience often proves to be a let-down. The field trip was one such instance. But was she too disappointed? Not at all. No, the reason isn’t that she’s mature or wise.
“In 9th standard, they take kids to America. I am sure that will be fun.”
Whoa! Say, what?

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