Today feels monumental to me. I got to go on a first-grade field trip. I know that something so small might not seem like a big deal to most, but to me, it was a really important milestone. I had a lot of emotions today when I finally, for the first time, got to be “field trip mom.” Working full time as a high school teacher for the last ten years has not afforded me the opportunity to go on field trips with my own kids. I have always had my own class to take care of and only two personal leave days to take for the school year. I can clearly remember when my daughter went on her first school field trip and I could not go. I drove to work with tears in my eyes because I wouldn’t be there to share that memory with her. 

Being a working mom is such a double-edged sword: there are so many great things our kids can see and learn from their mom getting up every morning and braving the world outside the home, but there are so many things that the working mom misses out on too. Working outside of the home helps me bring home skills and perspectives that I wouldn’t otherwise be able to, and I know that my kids benefit from that. I also see the benefits of being home more and being able to focus more on my home and family. Now, I feel like I have the best of both worlds getting to live in both the working mom and the stay-at-home mom realms.  

Today I was so grateful that I could “stay home,” but I was also reflective of all of the times I have gotten to take my own students outside that classroom to experience the world first-hand and help them make their own memories. Most of all I was just profoundly happy to be on that bus and appreciative to have the perspective to not take for granted the special time I got to spend with my handsome son holding hands, picking pumpkins, petting baby llamas, and sitting in airplanes.