Today is “wet and muddy day” at Preteen’s school. Which means a group of kids have the PRIVILEGE of going (yes, it’s really a privilege — they had to “apply” for this. They had to say why they wanted to go and then somewhere around 100 kids were chosen)….wherever they’re going (Preteen thinks he’s going down by the new Marriott; the permission slip says one group will travel to the Clear Creek wetland site and another will travel to the Brown Deer wetland site), and they’re going to spend the day “getting rid of invasive species” and planting trees. Preteen is VERY excited about this. (In fact, there were a tense few days where even though he’s a good student and a member of the ecology club, the possibility occurred to him that he might not be among the lucky 100.)
I have told Preteen that we can have our own “wet and muddy day” right here at home ANYTIME! We have plenty of “invasive species” that need to be dealt with. We even tried to interest him in “hot and sweaty day” a week or so ago. We tried to tell him that participating in “hot and sweaty day” was a privilege. It was an opportunity to examine forgotten treasures and improve the environment. But not everyone in the family would be fortunate enough to participate…so we told Preteen he should get his application in right away and tell us why we should choose him to participate.
Believe it or not, he didn’t go for it.
