I Learned From You - Parenting Lessons As A Volunteer For A School Trip

Last week I volunteered for an outdoor class trip with the kids.  One of the best things about being freelance is flexibility of time.  With a couple of late night writing shifts I was able to take on a day supervising a group of plucky six and seven year olds through outdoor nature adventures.  Here's what I learned.

10 Lessons I Learned While Supervising A School Trip

A real double rainbow I captured this past fall

1. Volunteer while they are young, but old enough to remember you put up your hand to help
Both minions were literally fighting over whose classroom I'd be volunteering for, the choice was ultimately up to the teachers, not the winner of an epic battle.  Just the same it felt great for them to really want me there and to proudly introduce me as their mom.

2. Be the parent with the extra pair of gloves, spare pair of pants, hat, tissues, & hand sanitizer
Someone is likely to need it, and it might even be your own kid.

3. Always make sure the porta potty door shuts and locks
Otherwise some random kid will whip open the door and you'll both be screaming as you struggle to shut the door, hypothetically speaking, of course!

4. You will get a wanderer in your groupOr a kid who doesn't want to wear their coat and gets cold, or insists on being first at everything. It may be your kid, it may be someone elses.  How you choose to deal with them is up to you.  I nagged my wanderer until they just submitted to volunteering to hold my hand (likely so they didn't have to listen to me nag them anymore).

5. Don't be afraid to improvise
The kids in my group had the most fun when they got to roll down a hill during our "free time" and play a bucket toss game where another parent and I suggested they toss their mittens when there were no beanbags available.

Kids can find so much fun in something as simple as being allowed to sit in a funky chair, seriously!

6. Pack a big lunch that can handle travel
The itinerary of our trip had the kids eating over an hour later than usual.  This meant they were ravenous by the time we could eat.  It also meant that Jack ate all of his lunch and part of mine and Molly's so it was good to have some extra.

7. Stay off your phone if you can
There were no rules for parents and cell phones, and I get that sometimes work is calling, but I was a little taken aback at how often some parents were checking out social media and then panicking when the "wanderer" of their group is hiding out.

8. Take only photos, leave only footprints
Set this example for the kids on respecting nature.

9. If your kid needs (or wants) something, don't be afraid to ask - the worst the teacher will say is no!
I didn't get to volunteer for Jack's class, but since he was also on the trip his teacher made sure he was able to sit with me at lunch, join my group for our last block of free time, and sit with me (and fall asleep in my lap) on the bus ride home.

10. Have Fun!
This time is fleeting..Enjoy the chaos...and how amazing your kids are.  Seeing my kids interact with other kids and how different they are from their classmates made me appreciate them even more.  Before we know it they'll be tweens and teens pushing towards independence.

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Push - Report Cards & Parent Teacher Meetings

Last week was report card and parent teacher meeting week.  There weren't too many surprises to us sandwiched in the reports and the meetings, but something did strike me this week.  In talking to other parents around the school yard there is one thing that all of us seem to have in common: the way we try to push our children to be better.

Maybe it's a part of the parental instinct, but it doesn't seem to matter if someone's child is at the top of their class, or just struggling to make it through - everyone I spoke to mentioned nudging their child in a particular direction, academic success.

For the most part this is great.  Who doesn't need a whole cheering section that is hoping for the best for them?  Other times I think about how exhausting it is, for both us and the minions.  Some nights I don't want to practice counting, adding, subtracting, sounding out words, or working on building fine motor skill, and they're only in grade one.  Sometimes  I just want to cuddle my kids and watch cartoons. I want to have tickle fights.  I want to bake cookies together.  I want to make fart noises just so I can hear them giggle.  I can only imagine how 'over' the practicing they are some days.

Molly and dad at Pioneer Village together last weekend

Listening to all of the glowing things the teachers had to say about what sweet, kind, happy and compassionate children I have, it made me take a breath to think about how much more important this is compared to academics.

We spend so much time trying to catch up, trying to push for the next milestone that there's always something that we're reaching for - and it's frustrating. No matter what we do, it seems they don't reach that next goal until they're ready...and when we push too hard it isn't fun for absolutely anyone.  Sure the extra time together practicing helps, but sometimes we need to take our foot off the gas pedal.

I think about the age of my children, born twins in the last third of the year, being held to the exact same academic standards as someone who was born in January, so essentially someone who has 10 percent more "life" experience and "wisdom" as my kids, and how much difference eight months makes in what they can and cannot do at six years old.  This makes me realize that it's time to calm the eff down. They'll get there, eventually, and if not we'll be there beside helping them, hopefully  holding their hands more often than we are pushing them from behind.

Hey parents and adults everywhere: Try to remember to enjoy the journey just as much as the destination....I know I need the reminder more frequently than I'd like to admit.

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