Spring "Break" Wednesday

Just as I suspected, all of Tuesday's "we-should-be-in-school-today" craziness ended at 2:45 p.m.  Almost to the second.  I did manage to talk Princess into a "recess" at 2pm, but we had to come in at 2:30.  I couldn't get an explanation why we had to come in and she was wearing no watch so I don't know how she knew (position of the sun in the sky?  rumble in her tummy?) but we came in just in time to pack up for the final bell.  The rest of the afternoon was smooth sailing, or at least no different from our usual afternoons.

I spent dinner last night talking up today's "field trip" with my fingers crossed.  We talked about our Wednesday Plan.  And how exciting it would be.  And that it included a playground.  And how exciting it would be.  And that it was a field trip-- a totally acceptable Wednesday-that-is-usually-a-school-day activity.

Which leads me to today...


Princess woke up this morning with purpose.  She came down to breakfast.  She very decisively chose oatmeal for breakfast, skipping the whole Saturday cereal drama altogether.  Score!  After breakfast, Princess and Birdie quickly got dressed for our field trip.  When they returned downstairs to find me in my pajamas, I saw a wave of panic cross Princess's face.  She pulled it together, though, and asked how long until the field trip.  "Maybe you should stop blogging, Mom, and get dressed since you're the chaperone for this trip."  Can you hear the attitude in that statement?!  You'd think I had teenagers!  I turned on AFV, got of my computer and my lazy ass and went to prepare for the day, armed with coffee and heartfelt pleas to a higher power to make Spring Break Wednesday better than Spring Break Tuesday.

We arrived at the park just after 10 a.m. and it was gloriously devoid of other children, just as I had hoped.  Princess and Birdie had the opportunity to learn the lay of the land without having to deal with other kids at first.  My friend RaRa arrived shortly after we did, which was also wonderful.  RaRa is a favorite grown-up of my girls and having her there (and her cutie patootie doggy) made the morning even better for all of us.

Birdie on the playground... in 2007

After about and hour of play, the park had become quite crowded with others taking advantage of the nice weather.  Birdie had made friends with a little 3-ish year-old boy and was acting like quite the big sister with him.  She was also talking his ears off about all sorts of stuff that I know he didn't even understand, but he was her perfect audience by not interrupting so she was happy.  Princess was doing her usual thing and playing near other children, but not with and of them.  (I am finally starting to accept that she really does prefer this, but sometimes it's hard to see her playing alone in a sea of other kids.)  She also spent a good deal of time running between the jungle gym and my friend and me to make sure we were observing all of her awesomeness on the playground.

Both girls were playing happily, so RaRa and I got engrossed in conversation.  Suddenly, my mommy radar picked up a distress call from Princess.  I went over to where she was standing on the upper platform of a two-level slide and found several kids below her giggling and one boy calling her a baby. When I asked what was going on, Princess started shrieking about the little jerk boy giving her a hard time.  I managed to hush her long enough to ask the boy, who was a year or two older than P, if calling a younger child names was making him have a better day.  He looked a bit confused by this question and confessed that maybe he wasn't really having fun.  His mom arrived on the scene moments later and made the boy apologize for picking on Princess.  Thank goodness!  I have to give the parents around here credit-- most of them make their kids do the right thing when they aren't staring at their iPhone.  Kudos.

Princess on the playground... also 2007

After that, Princess obviously started having less fun, but she was still enjoying the playground for the most part.  About 20 minutes after the first little bullying incident, P had the misfortune of being jostled by another little boy while climbing a ladder.  I heard the Apache war cry and cringed.  I looked at my friend told her that maybe it was time for lunch.  Before this wonderful-so-far field trip turned nuclear.  The little boy made it off the playground alive-- safe from Princess-- but I got the impression he wasn't going to fare as well with his mom when he got home.

We got out just in the nick of time, went to the Corner Bakery for some lunch, and called it a day.  By the time we got home, we were only an hour from the school dismissal time.  We all sat and read books on our deck and enjoyed the weather until 2:45 p.m. when the school day Spring Break Wednesday ended and we were back on schedule again.

The field trip idea was a big success.  I suppose I am now in need of a Spring Break Thursday itinerary.    :)