Strawberry Fields

I love field trips. One of the best parts of being a mom who doesn't have to work full-time is not having extra cash to get weekly facials going on field trips with my kids. We've gone to the ballet, the zoo, pumpkin patches, corn mazes, museums, animal farms, and other super sweet places for kids to explore. It is soooo fun to be a part of these adventures and witness the excitement on the kids' faces when they get to have new, interesting experiences. We've been to Harmon Farms a couple of times to pick pumpkins and go on hay rides. We've gone to Country Adventures in the spring to see the baby animals and in the fall to gather pumpkins. We've gone to Edventure and to Riverbanks Zoo. All fun. All good. I've loved them all.

Before Christmas last year, I got to chaperone Ella's class on a trip to the Columbia City Ballet to see The Nutcracker. This wasn't the first trip for this purpose, but it never gets old. This past time was hilarious because half of the class was excited (the girls) and the other half was trying not to be excited (the boys) to see men dancing around in tights. To be fair, the fellas could have done something about hiding their men parts because ALL of the kids were like WTF? Seriously, their jaws dropped to the floor when the male dancers made their appearances on the stage. Seeing it from 6 and 7 year olds' perspectives, I was a little taken aback as well. Those, er, packages, were right there, in your face...as if they'd been stuffed with socks.

Today Ella's class traveled to Cottle Farms to pick strawberries. I was assigned Ella and two other children to hang out with during the trip. Not to brag or anything, but I'm a cool mom to chill with. When I have lunch with Ella at school, the kids love sitting with me... probably because we get loud and rowdy and laugh a lot... and maybe because I'm not so strict about everthing. I like to say I'm laid back. Of course, laid back slows the eating process and may result in spilled peas and milk, but we always clean it up, so it's all good. Right?

Of course today was fun. The kids were allowed to go up and down the rows and collect strawberries in baskets. Some of the rows had mud puddles at the start, and these were the ones that ALL of the other parents avoided, but I told my kids to just trek on through...I went first...and, not surprisingly, we all ended up with shoes clumped with mud. But, you know what? Because nobody else was willing to get a little dirty, our rows were the ones that hadn't been picked over. Our rows were the ones with the biggest, juiciest, sweetest berries. And the mud felt good to squish around in. It was awesome.

Maybe that's the lesson for today. To not do what everyone else does simply because it's clean and conforming and innocuous. When you traipse through the mud and get your feet and hands dirty, you'll find the best treasures. The dirt will always wash off, but the memories that come with getting messy stay with you, and sometimes those are the best ones to have.