Escape from Hermitage

We don't get out much.

When my children were smaller, I blamed it on the difficulty of taking little children anywhere. In fact, for the first year we were living in Ann Arbor, I'm pretty sure we did a whole lot of nothing. Not only that, I also avoided interactions with the rest of the universe. Neighbor and child playing outside? Let's stay in. Community event to attend? Um, I'm good, thanks. Moms getting together for coffee? My baby naps during that time. I could come up with off the cuff excuses to stay inside like it was my job.

In-tro-vert.

When the two boys started walking and talking, they made it clear that they didn't share my desire to hide from civilization, so we started venturing out into the unknown. This brought forward another buried fear of mine: city driving. I fully realize that I do not live in a "large city." This does not matter to my unsubstantiated fears. After the country roads of central Ohio, and the winding switchbacks of southeastern Kentucky, the roads here in Michigan seemed crazy busy. Not only that, I had no idea where anything was. Blast it all. The fear of finding myself going the wrong way on a one-way street, finding a parking spot downtown, or trying to navigate interstates, kept us in the northeast corner of town for another year. Thank God for U of M buses. Without them, my children would have remained uncultured swines.

Once we had three children, for some inexplicable reason, it started to get easier. I think I could probably attribute it to the fact that -once you have three kids- you realize that chaos is to be expected. You let go of your preconceived notions of a good day out, and you're willing to accept pretty much anything as a success. Did we cross the threshold into the outer realm? Yes. Did my children learn something/have fun/see something other than our walls? Yes. Did I remember to bring them all home? 

...yes. 

If two out of the three were accomplished, I could chalk it up to a good trip and move on.

Once we started homeschooling, the pressure I felt to get them out was like a gorilla on my back. As one who was both public and private schooled, I understood the value of field trips and group activities. During those months when we would leave home only on Sunday mornings, I feared that I was failing my children...that they would grow up to be introverts like their mother and flounder in the real world. Not to mention the fact that we never got out of our pajamas. Darn it. *Unsocialized homeschoolers.* 

Must...not...support...stereotypes.

Slowly but surely, I've gotten better at integrating these things into our curriculum. It's always nice when it fits in well with what we're studying. But to be completely honest, the best trips have been the ones that have had absolutely nothing to do with a study unit, and everything to do with getting out and having fun.

This last week, we went with some friends to the children's science museum here in town. We arrived just as two buses were unloading 3,000,000 children into the lobby. It was chaos. Orange shirts everywhere, children running in circles, chaperons running after them...bedlam, I tell you, pandemonium at it's finest.

It. Was. Awesome.

math class

music class

balancing chemical equations

no clue...but it's really cool.

...and meteorology. cause it's a science. 

Did we cross the threshold into the outer realm? You betcha. Did my children learn something/have fun/see something other than our walls? Absolutely. Did I remember to bring them all home?

...yes.

Success.