City Mice

To kick off my Year of Living with No Regrets, I decided to volunteer to chaperone Mariah's upcoming class nature/camping/field trip. She really wants to go. She's typically an "indoor girl" like her mama, but she's a sucker for an epic adventure. She always participated in our family camp-outs in the backyard. J would pitch a military-grade tent, light up the fire pit, and we'd roast marshmallows for the obligatory S'mores. No chiggers or bears and our backdoor not even 10 feet away, but it was a lot more "roughing it" than some of the kids had under their belt.

The other day I sat in on a briefing with the students, teachers, and parent volunteers. The camp spokesguy was kid-friendly - held their full attention. That was, until the list of forbidden items appeared during the Power Point presentation. Oh the moans and groans at the Red Slash O' Death through all their "toys": no iPods, no cell phones, no laptops...Those kids acted like they were seriously going to die. On the spot. When they were informed that there were no televisions in their sleeping quarters, you could have measured the disappointment on the Richter scale. When they found out out how far we'd be hiking everyday, I swear a few of them feigned a heart attack. And when the slide of the hayride went up and featured an actual tractor and actual wagon, one little boy raised his hand, "Wait. We won't be in Land Rovers?" Ummm...sure kid. We'll just fill the trunks with hay for a more authentic experience.

Camp Guy: No one walks alone ever during the trip. If you need to go somewhere, you'll go with a teacher, a parent, or a buddy.

At Least 3 Kids: We have to walk with BUNNIES?!

So if a tree falls in the middle of the forest while we are there, will those 3 hear it?

Hope I don't regret this.