I totally remember going on a field trip to the zoo in kindergarten. We were all wearing our field trip clothes—tiny shorts and t-shirts (not because we were hoochie mamas but because we were tiny people)—and in our little hands we held the most important field trip accessory, the sack lunch. And for some reason on field trip days, we got to have soda instead of Capri Suns (which I could never open anyway). Sodas, of course, produce a lot of condensation so our savvy moms had cleverly wrapped them in aluminum foil.
FT Rule #1: Don’t put your foil-wrapped soda IN the brown paper lunch bag because it will break it. Then your PB&J (or in my case, plain cheese with the crusts cut off) and your Little Debbie brownie will fall out.
FT Rule #2: Make sure your mom puts your name on your soda…and your brown bag for that matter.
Oh, and another important but not as fun ingredient: The permission slip. The SIGNED permission slip. The reminding would start weeks prior to the FT: “In three weeks we’ll be going to the zoo, class. Make sure your mommy or daddy (back then most of us had both) signs the permission slip we gave you and you bring it back to me, K?” And the day before the FT: “Some of you still haven’t turned in your permission slips for the zoo field trip tomorrow. You need to bring it with you in the morning or you can’t get on the bus.”
Yet, inevitably, the morning would begin with at least one kid not having his PS so the teacher would be scrambling around, trying to call his mom with no luck. The kid would beg through tears but we would end up leaving him to spend the day hanging out with the school nurse or something. I’m not sure what those kids did all day. I just know that we waved at him from the bus and held up our foil-wrapped soda cans as if to say, “Suckah! You have to drink a sorry old Capri Sun! Good luck getting that straw in that tiny pouch!”
I don’t remember field trips in first, second, third or fourth grades but fifth grade was memorable because we went to downtown Houston. I know, it seems lame but to us suburban kids it was a big deal. We were like country mice in the city, gazing at the tall buildings, staring curiously at the homeless people. Not much had changed since kindergarten: we still had our sack lunches, our foil-wrapped soda cans and I recall several kids getting left behind for failure to turn over signed permission slips.
FT rule #3: When kids are older they need TWO foil-wrapped soda cans. Sometimes boys even need two sandwiches. Name on them still required.
Today I sent Frank out the door on a field trip. He’s going to Knoxville, TN for the day and I started thinking that’s a long drive without any snacks. “Do you want to take a banana?” I asked him. When he agreed I started going into total FT mode: slicing up apples, throwing in salty snacks and tossing a soda in the freezer so it would be extra cold. Natch, I wrapped it in foil.
I hope he’s having a nice FT although he won’t get too far. I didn’t even sign his permission slip.
FT Rule #1: Don’t put your foil-wrapped soda IN the brown paper lunch bag because it will break it. Then your PB&J (or in my case, plain cheese with the crusts cut off) and your Little Debbie brownie will fall out.
FT Rule #2: Make sure your mom puts your name on your soda…and your brown bag for that matter.
Oh, and another important but not as fun ingredient: The permission slip. The SIGNED permission slip. The reminding would start weeks prior to the FT: “In three weeks we’ll be going to the zoo, class. Make sure your mommy or daddy (back then most of us had both) signs the permission slip we gave you and you bring it back to me, K?” And the day before the FT: “Some of you still haven’t turned in your permission slips for the zoo field trip tomorrow. You need to bring it with you in the morning or you can’t get on the bus.”
Yet, inevitably, the morning would begin with at least one kid not having his PS so the teacher would be scrambling around, trying to call his mom with no luck. The kid would beg through tears but we would end up leaving him to spend the day hanging out with the school nurse or something. I’m not sure what those kids did all day. I just know that we waved at him from the bus and held up our foil-wrapped soda cans as if to say, “Suckah! You have to drink a sorry old Capri Sun! Good luck getting that straw in that tiny pouch!”
I don’t remember field trips in first, second, third or fourth grades but fifth grade was memorable because we went to downtown Houston. I know, it seems lame but to us suburban kids it was a big deal. We were like country mice in the city, gazing at the tall buildings, staring curiously at the homeless people. Not much had changed since kindergarten: we still had our sack lunches, our foil-wrapped soda cans and I recall several kids getting left behind for failure to turn over signed permission slips.
FT rule #3: When kids are older they need TWO foil-wrapped soda cans. Sometimes boys even need two sandwiches. Name on them still required.
Today I sent Frank out the door on a field trip. He’s going to Knoxville, TN for the day and I started thinking that’s a long drive without any snacks. “Do you want to take a banana?” I asked him. When he agreed I started going into total FT mode: slicing up apples, throwing in salty snacks and tossing a soda in the freezer so it would be extra cold. Natch, I wrapped it in foil.
I hope he’s having a nice FT although he won’t get too far. I didn’t even sign his permission slip.
8 comments:
Exactly what kind of tastey beverage is that?!? I hope he waits to drink that after the long drive!!
Ha! The funny thing is that I didn't mention the type of soda it is because it's not made by the parent company of the salty snack company that Frank works for. They're sticklers!
There was a time in Texas when we were allowed 4 or 5 field trips a year! Then they cut back a lot, which is why you might not remember much between 1st and 5 th grade.
I remember eating our sack lunches and foil wrapped drinks at Hermann Park and running down the hill! This was after visiting the zoo or the Natural History Museum. Don't forget having to have a FT buddy!
Best FT ever...We took a TRAIN to Austin from Dallas. Who does that?!? Who knew they even had trains?!?
Right--you gotta have a buddy or else you have to be the teacher's buddy! Or worse, the snot-nosed-kid's buddy.
Thea--you went to a fancy school.
My Dad owned a drive inn restaurant and he had white paper sacks for to-go orders (used at home too) so I didn't have brown but white bag lunches. My family still laughs about that-we stuck out like sore thumbs. Frank is such a good sport-posing for the camera! Good story Elsa...
I bet everybody thought you were fancy with your white bags...like you went to Thea's school!
Yes Laura, the tasty beverage looks like a 40 oz in pic. Wrapping a 16 oz coke in foil is not the same as the 12 oz cans of yesteryear
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