Something great happened

So, she went on a field trip without us.
I was nervous.
I was scared.
I was worried.
Then the phone rang while she was on the trip. I think I aged about 30 years. It was the teacher. I just aged 50 more years. Everything was fine. She wanted to know if my daughter could hold baby chicks while wearing gloves.
My mind was screaming no but the word yes came out....
I hung up the phone and I wondered what I had just done.
My cell phone dinged. I had a text. It was a picture from the teacher. My daughter, with gloves, was holding an animal.
I cried, sobbed actually.
A few hours later she came home. She got off of the bus with an enormous smile. She talked and talked about how soft and cute the baby chicks were. She pet a goat and a pig too with gloves on.
It was quite a day for all of us.

A wonderful friend said"You've found a great balance of keeping her safe and letting her grow"

Very powerful words to me. I need to print them out and put them on my office wall. I need to read them when I'm having a hard day or when I am worried about a decision that we have made. I do need to keep her safe but she does need to grow. As much as I try to keep her little, it isn't working. She's getting older and she needs to live a life.

Powerful words....

A trip today

My daughter is off on a walking field trip today. Pretty much out the door, across a field and over to the high school. They will learn about animals, plants and so on. They will have lunch before hand and the trip doesn't include eating anything.
I told her a thousand times this week-
Don't touch the animals.
Don't feed the animals.
Don't get close enough to the animals so that they could possibly lick you.
When you plant something wear gloves.

I think that all falls under "things you didn't know that you would have to say to your child".

It certainly is a strange life that we lead.....