Chaperone.

Yesterday I went with the first grade to the National Zoo. I wanted to go because the zoo trip is the one thing I remember from my own first grade. So I went, and it rained.

Many pollyannas have pointed out that at least it didn't rain hard. True, but it rained continuously. All day long. We were pretty darn wet. And I really want to know what kind of parent sends the kids to school for an outdoor field trip with no rain jacket or umbrella. A bunch of the other chaperones had to buy plastic rain ponchos from the gift shop for their kids. Luckily mine were appropriately clad.

I had three kids to tour with. It was a bit of a mismatched trio too. I had one girl and 2 boys (including my own). He was the only easy going one of the bunch. I wanted to lead them straight to the elephants & pandas and work our way down the hill. I ended up going toward the cheetahs and birds, by popular vote. I always manage to end up seeing the birds and missing something else (in this case the small mammal house). Still that was where the little girl was itching to go. The other little boy mostly whined for the lions and tigers right until we got over there. Then he suddenly wanted reptiles instead.

It was fun and exhausting. The worst part was that there is only one big covered area with tables, and we didn't find it until the end of the day. We ate lunch on a bench under some trees. it wasn't the kids preference, but they were agitating for food so I made the command decision. In the end all we missed was the small mammals. The disappointing part is there are so many empty spots. And when we found places with animals, most of them were sleeping or hiding in their houses to get out of the rain. The kids liked it, though, so it was pretty good.

I also got points right away by talking Yugi cards with the kids and getting specific about what's in my deck and what I need. They actually made some good suggestions too.

Now I guess I need to go make like Trading Spaces and empty the room I'm going to paint. Whee.