DENIS THE MENACE & THE TRIP TO THE ZOO

Last Thursday I took the day off to chaperone Elijah's kindergarten field trip to the Tulsa Zoo; however, the field trip was cancelled right before we were supposed to leave because of the weather forecast. The kids were not happy and boy did I pity the teachers who had to listen to the whining ALL day! So they rescheduled the trip for today. With such short notice and so many parents were unable to take another day off of work after taking off Thursday, the chaperone list plummeted which meant those of us going would be responsible for more kids. Chaitra was unable to go on Monday and even though Avani isn't in the same class as Elijah she had to walk with me because she is allergic to everything on Earth and I already know about her epipen and breathing problems so Chaitra requestedAvani to walk with me. Sure I said and when I went to the nurses office to get the epipen before we left I did ask her about any unusual signs that I would need to use the pen because I am so used to her telling us when something is wrong but I thought I better find out what to look for in case she couldn't communicate. She said first call 911 because the epipen relief is only temporary so she will still need help. Dumb idea - it made me an absolute nervous wreck the entire day! When we pull up to the Zoo with our three BA buses I see about twenty other buses and realize there is going to be a ton of kids here. Ok so I was assigned to Elijah, Denis and Avani then I asked if I could have another girl so Avani wouldn't feel so out of place with the boys. Then they gave me Sarah and Paige because they are friends with Vani - Ok!


Well everything started out good then Denis began....."I'm hungry buy me food, I'm thirsty buy me a drink, I want to ride the train why can't we ride the train..." I didn't think he would ever stop. We were asked not to spend any money on the kids and that was a pain in the butt to explain every two seconds. The kid kept running off and driving me nuts because then I would have to drag four other kids around to find him. I stayed nice and calm until we lost him after the rainforest then I drug them all back in to find him and didn't find him but found two other stragglers who couldn't find their chaperone so I told them to stay with me. As soon as I get outside I see his little yellow-shorted-self far away with another group so I just yelled for him. The chaperones turned around and said hey you have to of our kids and I said yep and you have one of mine. They said "are you afraid of losing your kid?" I replied, "I am not worried about losing my child because he doesn't wander off every two seconds. I am more worried about losing another mother's child and having to explain it to her. But obviously that doesn't seem to bother you guys!" It just frustrated me that they didn't even notice they had a kid who wasn't theirs and were missing two of their own. Number 1 reason why I just prefer to chaperone my own kid. Especially on a day as full as this one....I have never seen this many kids at the zoo ever you would think it was THE ONLY day for zoo field trips!! I also realized I was the only one with 5 kids everyone else has no more than 2 even the teachers and I have 5 with one who has medical issues how smart is that!!! By now we are half way through the zoo and the entire time I am trying to make poor Avani stay within epipen stabbing distance and checking for labored breathing, swollen face or neck, swollen tongue, disorientation, slurred speech, redness, wheezing and the list goes on and on!!!! This is when I started to panic.........what if I have to use the pen and call 911 first, do I just tell them I need help at the brown bear cage at the Tulsa Zoo....why didn't I get the number to the zoo office in case there was an emergency they could pick us up.....how will I carry her running all the way to the front screaming and expect all the others to keep up (because I am SO fast you know especially carrying a very tall heavy 6 yr old)....I would just have to tell Elijah to stay with mommy and tell the others to either keep up or wait there for another chaperone to come along.....why me, why am I the one with five kids. In my moment of panic I hear kids screaming, I rejoined the real world to see 4 scared kids running towards me (the look on Vani's face was priceless) and Denis throwing rocks at the ostrich who now is running, flapping and pecking through the wire. Nice! Again why me!! At this point I am thinking I always thought I loved kids but now besides a select few I have decided I mainly just love my kids! Just kidding! It is at times like this that I realize and appreciate how good my children can be at times! Well I lost Denis a few more times...WAIT...I didn't lose him I just needed a leash for him since he kept running off like a rabid dog! All in all the day was good. It was more fun outside of the zoo watching all the boys play hide and seek while the girls sat quietly glistening with sweat waiting for the buses. I must say the bus ride home was STINKY but peaceful since it was full of mostly napping kindergarteners! I also must say I am glad I get to do things like this with my kids because my parents weren't active in our school and athletic lives and I have vowed: I WILL BE INVOLVED!

He just loves animals!