I signed up to be a Parent Volunteer

I sign up for most every field trip.

My presence seems to make the teachers feel more secure

and my son loves the my undivided attention

which is generally in short supply.

Field trips are good for another reason too.

They bring me back to reality.

For instance, my autistic son is amazingly affectionate at home

but in my mind I thought he was making a differentiation between home and school. Not so.

On the 20 minute ride to the Planetarium

he started playing with a fellow student's hair.

Upon exiting the bus he reached over and took the little boys hand

trying to implement a buddy system his peers outgrew in first grade.

When the boy blushed Nick resigned to just looping his arm through his partners, like a date posing for a prom picture.

Over the next 3 hours Nick learned about sea life, meteorites and the solar system. I, on the other hand, continued adding to the long list of social behaviors we need to be working on with our budding student.

I have a sneaking suspicion

I've signed up to be a parent volunteer

indefinitely.

Lucky for me

I always love a good field trip!

I love, Love, LOVE how kind Nick's peers are to him.

They are not only patient and understanding

but they genuinely like him.

Everyone seems to know and love "Nicky"

One more tender mercy.