The Field Trip

Nothing like a day spent with a whole class of second graders. On a field trip.

A field trip can trigger the same symptoms in a child as eating an entire bag of sugar. Yes, its true. Running around in mad circles, yelling at the top of one's lungs, swinging and jerking of the arms excessively and temporary hearing loss.

Second graders are a different breed of animal. I watched a kid use the inside front of his shirt to blow his nose. I watched another eat a carton of yogurt that made me realize he must digest food through the skin of his face since that's where most of it got smeared.

And, one of my own "truisms" was proven once again. You know how people will say "There are no dumb questions", well I take arguement with that. I believe there ARE dumb questions. When the pioneer man gives a demo about blacksmithing and then kids ask things like:

"What happens if the pot of beans spills?"
"I'm hot." (not even a question.)
"My grandma cooks beans." (again, not a question)

We went to a park yesterday that has a pioneer village. People dress in period costume and then explain to the kids how they used to do things such as, wash clothes, cook food, blacksmith, load and shoot a rifle, fetch water and more. More than you ever wanted to know.

Here is a bit of trivia you can use next time you want to impress your friends. I would save this for a fancy dinner party. Did you know that the early settlers used a corn cob to wipe their hineys with? AND, then washed them and used them again???? After that bit of info, I think I passed out. Call me snobby, call me hoity-toity but in my pioneer household we would have only used the corn cobs ONCE!

Oh well, the trip was a success. We made it back with as many kids as we came with and they were all worn out.