Goofy Games Day

Dear Mom,

The school year is winding down and today is Goofy Games Day. Formerly known as Field Day. And way back when, it was Track and Field Day.

Goofy Games Day really just means school is over but we need to keep you here for another day and a half even though we won't be doing any real work. Which is totally fine with me because they will be here at home and in my space soon enough.

I learned long ago that being a parent volunteer for Field Day (or whatever they want to call it) is Not For Me. When the Young Man was a kindergartner and I was all enthusiastic about Helping Out The Teacher!, I signed up Field Day. It rained that year and events were moved indoors. I was assigned the "Peanut Race" and spent about 3 hours picking up the peanuts that had dropped off the racer's spoon and reloading the pie plates they belonged in for the next racer. It was a testament to my will to Get Out of There that I was able to straighten my back and walk to my car and drive home.

The next year, apparently having blocked out the memory of the previous year, I volunteered again. That year the weather was hot and dry. HOT. And DRY. We were outside. In the school field. With no shade. I can't remember the object of the "game" I was in charge of, I can only remember that it involved a kiddie pool filled with flour and hidden items, which meant that I was covered in flour and in the middle of a shade-less, dusty field in the hot sun for a couple of hours. That was my last Field Day. Let some Other Mom do it. I don't even feel sorry or guilty about it.

So, today. Goofy Games Day for the Young Lady. My heart sank when the phone rang at 10:28 this morning; caller ID shouting that it is the Intermediate School calling. Like Miss Clavell in the night, I know something is not right. I answer and hear the quavering voice of the Young Lady, asking me for a clean pair of shoes and socks, telling me that hers are covered in mud. She apparently stepped out of one mud-clogged shoe and stepped into the mud with her sock.

Thank heavens I wasn't the Parent Volunteer on that game.

Love,

Kim