Photo by Matthew

Five and a half year old Matthew took this - with Mommy's digital SLR (a Nikon D50 - BTW - awesome camera!). Not bad, huh? He's come a long way in so many skills and is so eager to learn. He went to the zoo today on a field trip. He asked me this morning if I would go along, and I felt a little guilty having to explain to him that Mommy can't because she has her own students to be with. On the other hand, I have to admit, I hate field trips and I have successfully dodged the last two trips to the zoo (where I would have been traveling as a teacher). I would enjoy taking Matthew (and Jamie and Benjamin) to the zoo, but as a family, not a field trip. I think there's a good reason why teachers almost never chaperone their own kids' fields trips (aside from the timing problems) - we just can't stand it!

If Skippy could talk, he'd probably see the wisdom in avoid unneccessary outings of large groups of kids when one already does that constantly.