Going to the Zoo

 Charlotte's first bagged lunch!

Ready to go!!

Today is Charlotte's field trip to the zoo. Chris and I chaperoned last year, when Charlotte was a mere 4-month-old, as we were new the school and wanted to fall into the "good parent" category. But really, how much fun can a 4-month-old have at the zoo?

This year, we didn't care so much about which parental category we fell into, but the field trip did bring up the problem of what to do about Charlotte. The toddlers have to have a one-to-one ratio of adults to kids, but Chris had a gazillion (oh yes, a gazillion) meetings already scheduled. Me? I could have taken a vacation day, but I'm really trying to save them for when #2 (not yet!) comes along. See, when I went on maternity leave for Charlotte, I was paid for about 10 weeks of leave because I had saved up sick time for years and had a couple weeks of vacation time to boot. (And the last thing you want with a new baby is a missed paycheck.) When I returned to work, I started accruing again from zero hours, and immediately used it when Charlotte got sick. Over and over again.

So then. I really didn't want to use my vacation time for a zoo field trip, because it literally equals a day sans pay if/when I go on leave again.

Then, as I was picking up Charlotte last week, one of her teachers from the baby class (who she ADORES--the only person in the world Charlotte will blow kisses to) asked, "Is Charlotte going on the field trip?"

"Honestly," I said, "I think I'm just going to keep her home that day and telecommute. She was sick so much this year that I can't really spend the vacation time."

"Oh," said her teacher, "because I wanted to see if it would be okay with you if I chaperoned Charlotte for the trip. I miss her!"

This teacher, who comes in during the aftenoon for a few hours (she's a nursing student) is about 20 years old, has more energy than a class of toddlers, and the kids more or less worship her.

"Are you kidding me?" I said. "Charlotte would LOVE that!"

So today, Charlotte gets to ride the school bus (I'm sure there will be many renditions of "The Wheels on the Bus"), she will experience her first bagged lunch, and maybe this year she'll give a hoot about the animals.

This week, during our stories before bed, we focused on animal books. All last week, her class did zoo- and animal-related art projects, stories, and games. This morning, as we got ready, we sang "We're going to the zoo, the zoo," which I admit, I totally made up. But Charlotte thought it was a pretty spiffy song. Any song that integrates clapping is a winner in her book.

It's HOT and HUMID today, as lots of thunderstorms will be rolling through. Ah, well. As of now (7:26 a.m., if you're interested), the field trip is still on!

And now I have my made-up zoo song stuck in my head.