This week, my daughter went on her first “sort of” residential trip with the school. How was it “sort of” residential, I hear you ask (all 2 people who are maybe reading this outside my immediate family) Well, it goes like this.
A couple of months ago a very bubbly, slightly demented child came home from school brandishing a letter. The letter explained that they want to take the class to an adventure centre for three days in July. At the centre, there would be rock climbing, archery, canoeing and a whole host of activities that seemed to be the things our fae child thrived on.
The only problem being it was two nights away from home and our 7 year old has never stayed away from us overnight – ever. Not even with relatives. Not only that, but as written in a previous post, her bedtime routine is over two hours long, starts at 6pm and if not followed will result in said child not sleeping for a month. She also ‘follows her own agenda’ which in this case means she would see no problem, on waking at 3am, in getting herself up and taking herself off to the nearest climbing platform or canoeing lake and having a go alone. After all, safety lines are optional extras in her world, and having done it once she would deem herself an expert.
All in all, the idea of her sleeping there was not something we wanted to contemplate. Which was sad, because she would love doing everything. Then we thought about it: how far away was the centre? As it turned out it was only about 20 mins away from us, no further than her school. So, with some negotiation, we agreed with the staff that we would drop her off every morning and collect her every evening. Not ideal, but the best solution we could come up with. The teachers gave me looks like I was an overprotective helicopter mother. Every parent I talked to seemed to agree that 7 is very young to stay out on a school residential trip even for a neurotypical child, let alone one who is frequently scared by Paw Patrol and only learnt to talk two years ago.
So, since Wednesday, we have been making the journeys to drop off and collect from the centre. On the plus side, the journey is significantly nicer than the school run – through the Yorkshire Moors and with little traffic. On the downside, bringing an over tired, cranky child home is a trial.
She enjoyed her time, however, which I guess is the main thing. And we got some extra time, so a few chores that had been looming like the sword of Demoncles have been dealt with.
Best of all, it’s over now.
Raising the Modern Fae 