Field Day(s)

Each year, the girls’ school holds two field days. One field day is for the fifth and sixth grades. The other is for Kinderkids through fourth graders. In years past, these field days were held on the same day but in different areas outside the school.

Let me backup. Field day is a day when the kids are taken outside in the afternoon for a couple of hours of playtime. Parent volunteers (not me, my kids would prefer that I be free to follow them from station to station, thanks anyway) run each station with different games. There are several stations that involve…water. Yes, it gets very wet and very muddy. But so much fun is had that no one minds.

This year, though, the field days were held on separate days. I had originally taken the day off work for Alyssa’s field day so I could attend. A few days before the day field day was supposed to happen, I asked Alyssa (again!) if she wanted me to go. Parents are invited to come watch (or you know, help, hahahaha.)

She hemmed and hawed and said she’d ask her friends if their parents were going to be there.

I told her that I wouldn’t be hurt if she didn’t want me to go; she just needed to let me know. Finally, the night before field day, she said, “You don’t have to go.”

And it was fine. I went to work an hour late (dentist appointment) and left an hour and a half early (meeting at the school to discuss Olivia and her unlabeling.)

When I got home from the meeting I asked Alyssa if any parents had come to watch their fifth and sixth graders. She shook her head. I think she was relieved that she hadn’t been the only one with a ‘fan’ in the stands. Haha. Though it would have been neat to watch her make that winning jump in the high jump. See, the fifth and sixth graders get to do to the track and field area where the do actual track and field events during their field day.

I had about a w eek and a half notice about Alyssa’s field day. I found out about Olivia’s field day at 5:30pm on Thursday, May 21. It was being held on Friday, May 22 at 12:30pm. Yeah, this time, the sixth grader brought home the papers and the first grader didn’t.

I was able to take the afternoon off work and go spend it with Olivia. I was one of two parents of first graders who showed up, but let me tell you that even if I’d been the only, there would have been no embarrassment for Olivia. She was thrilled that I was there.

Let me stop here and say that I don’t think Alyssa would have been embarrassed so much by me being at her field day. It’s just that when you’re twelve and your mommy shows up, well, come on, we all get it, right?

Eight year olds, on the other hand, still want to hold their mom’s hand and hug them close and show them off. How lucky am I that I get to do at least three more field days?