Flash Back to the Fifth Grade Field Trip That Didn't Happen

Fifth grade is the year that kids are introduced to D.A.R.E. At least that’s the case at our local school.

Olivia had actually enjoyed the monthly programs throughout the year. She’s come home each time with all kinds of stories about the day. I think her favorite was when the officer presenting one day was dividing the kids into pairs.

He pointed to two kids and said, “You’re a pair.”

Then he pointed to another couple of kids and said, “You’re an apple.”

Olivia got such a kick out of that one. She loves puns and ‘clever’ jokes.

Last week, with only two weeks left in school, she brought home a paper that described a fifth grade field trip. They were going on a day trip to a D.A.R.E. camp. And it was only going to cost each child $5 to attend.

The very first activity listed was…

Animal handling.

If you know Olivia at all you can imagine her reaction to that one. The face she made was priceless.

The next activities were things like ropes course, rock building, fire starting, canoeing…

You get the picture. It was a list of all the things that Olivia hates.

Then, the worst fate of all, according to Olivia, is that the kids were instructed to pack a sack lunch.

She brought this form home on a Friday. It was a full week and a half before the field trip was scheduled.

She worried all weekend long about how she’d eat lunch if she was expected to do so OUT OF A BAG. Let’s remember that she did not eat at school in kindergarten and first grade. She finally started eating a little of her lunch in second grade because they moved her from the regular class table to a table by herself. In third grade, she moved invited select classmates to join her at her exclusive table.

In fourth grade, she was integrated back into the regular table with the rest of her classmates, which is where she sits and eats these days. However, she never takes her food out of her lunchbox. She leaves the container inside the lunchbox and hovers over it, surreptitiously moving the food from the lunchbox to her mouth, hoping against hope that no one will actually see her eat.

She’s weird.

I told her on Friday evening I’d email her teacher Monday morning but she fretted all weekend about that field trip and the lunch involved and how much she did not want to go to that day camp. I also told her that even if her teacher said she thought Olivia should go, well, of course we’d just keep her home that day. We weren’t going to pay $5 and send her on a trip we KNEW she’d hate. We’re perfectly capable of torturing her at home for free. No need to pay some camp to do it for us.

I kept my promise and emailed her special ed teacher on Monday morning saying basically, “Olivia does not want to go to the D.A.R.E day camp. She’s suffering quite a bit of anxiety over the thought of having to attend. Help.”

Her teacher, bless her, replied immediately, “She does NOT have to go to that camp. She can spend the day in my classroom. I was planning to take my non-fifth graders to the Dairy Treat that day. Olivia can go with us.”

When I got home that evening, I informed Olivia of the new plan.

Her relief was palpable. She gave a sigh and said, “Yeah, ice cream is way better than animal handling.”

Oh gurrrrl. I feel you on that one.

In the end, none of this even mattered because the field trip was canceled due to inclement weather. Did you know that's been raining the Midwest since about mid March? Yeah.