A school trip is when the sausage calls
It's June. The end of the school year is approaching, and with it the time for more or less major excursions up and down the country. The school trip! The highlight of every child's packed school year. Yes, yes, confirms a spokesperson from the SBB media centre. The month of June is «the month with the most group trips», explains Oli Dischoe on enquiry. «In June 2015, there were around 25,700 registered group and school trips, and on last year's peak day, 26 June, there were 2,000 groups alone with around 49,000 travellers.»
School trips are great for the child, but not quite so great
for mums who are suffering from stress.
On this friendly June day, my children are also among the group travellers mentioned above. Marching through the station with colleagues and their teachers in rows of two means leaving at 8 a.m., returning at 2.30 p.m., having all kinds of adventures in between far from parental care and coming back as dirty as possible. But mum has to work hard to earn her children's absence: First of all, she has to sort out the provisions. In my case, this meant preparing cervelats and making sandwich packets; a fine art, especially if they are to be eaten.
Culinary delights are followed by a material check: hiking boots (hope they still fit). Rainwear: (check the zip). Spare clothes, bath towel, sun cream plus tick spray. Of course, you could prepare all this in advance if you're not prone to procrastination like me. Haven't I always wanted to read David Allen's «Getting Things Done»? Set up a Trello board for the school trip? It's my own fault. A friend comes to mind. She used to say: My life is already over. I add this morning: the more school trips, the more over.
But away with the moaning! The whole drudgery of packing has one unbeatable advantage this year: as a result of postponementitis due to constant rain, three of my four children actually have their school trip on the same day. Wow! I rejoiced, decided to replace lunch with coffee and sweets, work undisturbed and force-park the school trip-free child at a colleague's house at lunchtime.
Appearance: The big brother
However, a child-free six-and-a-half-hour day has to be worked for. I get up at 5.45am, make my first espresso with a groan and hope for a bit of applause from the only family member who was also awake: our dog. (Yes, I have a penchant for the tragic subject). I then layered mountains of shoes, clothes, spare clothes, binoculars, hats, rain jackets and bath towels as well as provisions for child one, two and three. I reminded myself not to mix up the sandwiches and the bags of crisps, because child 1.0 only likes bacon-flavoured crisps, child 3.0 wants everything except bacon and child 4.0 wants lots of chocolate, because there's nothing quite like a chocolate paradise. The child not travelling to school (2.0, to be precise) staggers sleepily down the stairs, grasps the whole situation and says in the most charming tone of voice: «You can't take any chocolate with you, it's warm and then it gets soft and looks LIKE A CHOCOLATE SHOP!», hahaha, but the little brother takes it literally and doesn't giggle, but goes on a rampage, ready for the stage. Jesus, help! I'm looking for Smarties, the only thing he can be sedated with in no time at all, and haste is indeed called for, as brother 3.0 stomps through the living room with not quite aseptic hiking boots, a researcher's hat and binoculars, while brother 1.0 passive-aggressively tries to squeeze the sleeping bag into the much too small cover. And where is the dog? He's sniffing the club sandwich, ahhhh!
It's half past seven. Half past seven! The kitchen looks like three families are about to go camping. I feel like Betty Draper myself: ready to shoot. Wow, am I stuffy. A little later, I accompany the little one to kindergarten with his rucksack. It's his very first school trip and I promptly give in to my hormones. I'm overcome with pre-homesickness for the Smarties dwarf. It's just this stupid tiredness, I tell myself, while the dog pulls on the lead because he wants to dominate a duck. Of course, the kids don't travel far, they are in the best of hands with their teachers, but the journey is long, the trains are fast and the streams are deep, I think. Fortunately, my youngest doesn't care about these thoughts. His farewell was: a quick wave, a half-smack and - bye-bye! Lost in thought, I trot home, my sandwich puppy by my side. I've barely got into my work when the child, who is off school, rings the doorbell with a gasp and says: «Hello, Mum-aaa! I'll be home at lunchtime, won't I? I want a cervelat too! Ok-ay?».
10 tips for stress-free school trip preparation
- Meal list: Which child needs what meals to take away (snack, afternoon snack, lunch)? Is it allowed to grill (Cervelat instead of sandwich)? Are crisps and sweets allowed?
- Collect drinks bottles and bidons, wash, check seals on drinks bottles.
- Provide packaging (boxes).
- Find comfortable shoes, check materials and sizes (children's feet are known to grow overnight).
- Check rainwear for functionality (zip!), waterproof if necessary.
- Check sleeping bags and rucksacks for suitability, air out sufficiently and wash if necessary.
- Have sun protection, tick spray and sun hats to hand.
- mercilessly unpack all other favourite things (teddy bear, football, train, panini album) - and gently teach the child the difference between ideal and reality.
