Butterflies and Mummies

Today was one of those scary days for me, and one of those fun and free days for Nathan.

There was a field trip for his class, to go to the Milwaukee Public Museum. He was SO excited! You would think he was going to the moon, as thrilled as he was. Mom was in "eek" mode, worrying about every silly little thing. (My friends tease me that I would wrap Nathan in bubble wrap if I could.) Of course, one has to swallow all those over-protective urges and let the little guy have some fun once in a while. So off he went in the big blue bus.

There was no reason to worry. He had a blast! He called me up as soon as he got home, dying to tell me about it. His favorite part was what he called The Butterfly Room. From what I gather, it was a room full of butterflies. LIVE butterflies! He was blown away, and I was grinning from ear to ear, listening to him describe it. I wish I could have seen it. I wish I could have seen him frolicking around, chasing a monarch, surrounded by other butterflies. What a grand mental image!

And I got to hear about mummies in caskets, and big skeletons that were hanging from the ceiling, and a skeleton of a huge whale that was on a wall. And the kids had some kind of scavenger hunt, too, which allowed him to go off "on his own" to explore the museum (accompanied by his aide).

And just as delightful was his wide-eyed tale about the gift shop. Mom The Softie slipped him a little cash before he left, so that he could get a small souvenier. You would think he had won the lottery, to hear him tell it. He bought a dinosaur toy and some candy (you know field trip candy is ten times better than home candy), and he and his buddies had their picture taken in one of those photo booths. Those boys couldn't have smiled any bigger if they tried.

It was so much fun to hear him talk about it. He was so happy. And he shared the experience with friends from school. Shared! FRIENDS FROM SCHOOL. Wow. That's so cool! He never used to be that social at school. He rarely remembered a kid's name, let alone refered to one as his friend. Now he's having a great time with a couple of pals, like it was a common occurance. (Happy dance!)

This all ended up being the best Mother's Day gift I could have received. My little boy was buzzing with excitement and joy about his trip, with a smile that lights up the whole room. It just doesn't get any better than that.