Pumpkin Farm

Eli's class went on a field trip last Thursday. I wasn't able to chaperone, and Eli didn't want to go without me. I suggested that he stay home and we would go on a field trip of our own. He liked that idea, so we planned to go to a pumpkin farm with a trip with my friend Julie and her kids.

The day before the trip I asked Isaac if he would like to skip school the next day and go to the farm with us. He looked at me with confusion on his face and reminded me of a note that was sent home from school earlier in the week. The note listed acceptable reasons for a student to be absent. Isaac reminded me that the only acceptable reasons to miss school were a death in the family, a broken bone or other serious injury, or and illness. He said, "no even vacations with your family." I then tried to explain to him that I am his mother, and I think it is fine for him to take a day off to go somewhere with his family. I explained that I would write a note for him to give to his teacher and everything would be okay. He was still nervous, so I told him it was up to him and I would respect his decision. He decided to go to school. Later, Danny was able to make him feel comfortable about missing school by explaining to him that the teacher was only in charge of him while he was in school - otherwise, his parents are the boss. I'm glad he came with us. We had a great time!