Rhys Goes to the Post Office

Today Rhys and his class went on a field trip to the local post office. I have been vacillating over tagging along because I wasn't sure if my presence would further distract him from behaving himself. In the end I decided I should take advantage of my just being able to go. I took along my handy dandy camera and was able to preserve the day for posterity.

It was a beautiful crisp winter morning and the sun shone brightly over us as we walked from the school to the post office. We later learned from the teachers, who incidentally have gone on this trip countless times that we had all walked a mile and a half to and from the school.


Our journey to the post office was a pleasant exercise past pretty little houses in a very hilly part of the neighborhood. The children rose to the challenge and we made it to our destination in no time. At one point I found myself walking next to the curb and was reprimanded by Rhys with a "Hey Mommy! Get out of the street!" It's always a bit hilarious to hear your words come out of your little one. Nevertheless I took heed and got back on the pavement.

Once at the post office we were greeted by postal carriers who were in charge of the grand tour of the facilities. Unfortunately this is where Rhys took off running and somehow managed to bang his hand up against some pexiglas which resulted in scraping three of his fingers deep enough to produce a little blood. It looked pretty painful and he made a valiant effort to contain himself, though it did not stop him from frantically waving his hand around in hopes of stemming the pain. He continued to hold his hand up to people's line of vision and wave it around visibly in hopes that someone would notice enough to produce a band aid, but the postal workers misinterpreted this action for an excited youngsters energetic greetings of hello. Eventually I was able to ask and was presented with a handful of band aids which helped assuage his panic at the sight of his blood.


The children then all performed a little song they had practiced especially for their field trip to the post office. The workers were very appreciative of their song and clapped enthusiastically. We continued on with the tour and were directed outside to where the postal vehicles are parked. The children were allowed on the cargo area of a large postal truck and then were led over to one of the smaller vehicles in which you see them drive around the neighborhood. They posed in the back of the car and looked just adorable. Tired of being adorable and curiosity getting the better of him, Rhys decided to move from the back to the front seat -the driver's seat. He sat down in the driver's side and began to turn the wheel this way and that and was even bold enough to honk the horn! This was when everyone realized that some of the kids managed to get in the front of the car. To be fair, no one said that they were not allowed! It was rather funny though.


After this incident we were all led back into the building and into the snack room where the children were supplied with snack and drinks before walking back to school. All the kids were such troopers they had a very grand time on their field trip. This was Rhys' second official field trip in Pre-K. I was not at his first, which involved walking down the street from the school to a neighbors house and jumping into a bundle of fall leaves.


We ended the day back in the classroom.