A Milestone of Sorts

This morning as I was dropping Greenleigh off at school she asked why she couldn’t ride the school bus.  Funny how something I was so embarrassed about having to ride when I was in middle school, is so sought after by a 3 year old.  Her daycare has a bus in the parking lot that they use for field trips and she’s been very interested in it recently.  I had been told that she could attend field trips when she turned 4, so I figured we had another year before she could go and explore that bus.

But as we pulled into our parking space, I noticed two kids from Greenleigh’s class waiting to board the bus.  I went up to talk to one of the teachers who was holding a clipboard and asked why those kids were going on the field trip.  They said they were headed to the movies and 3 year olds were allowed to go, but they hadn’t made a public announcement about it.  I asked Greenleigh if she wanted to go and she smiled bigger than I think I’ve ever seen her smile.  She nodded.  I laughed about how she would never make it through a movie, and maybe we should wait for the next field trip, but they said it was okay.  And Greenleigh was practically on the bus, so there was no way to talk her out of it.

Right then and there, I needed to make a parenting decision.  At 3 years old, should she go on the field trip?  Was it okay for her to ride on a bus?  Could she possibly sit through an entire movie?

The answer to the last question was probably not.  But the happiness in her eyes said it all.  She was going on that trip.  As she ripped off her “Snugglesaurus” t-shirt and tossed it to the side to put on her new blue camp t-shirt, my heart broke a little.  She’s growing too fast.  Without even so much as saying goodbye, she skipped on to the bus and right into the last few rows where all the “cool kids” sit.  It was like she had been going on field trips forever.  She was clearly ready for this step, but was I?

It’s one of those things that I’m glad I didn’t have too much time to think about, because I might have decided otherwise if given more time.  I questioned my decision all the way to work.  What if she was left on the bus?  What if she got lost?  What if she was scared by how loud the movie was?  What if she didn’t sit down on the bus?  What if there was an accident?  What if, what if, what if…

But she was downright giddy when I picked her up from daycare today and all she wanted to do when we got home was show Erajh her camp t-shirt.  She told us about the movies, the park, and, most importantly, riding the bus.  The details were a bit fuzzy, but just before she passed out, she told me how she couldn’t wait to do it again.  Good thing there are lots of field trips planned this summer.

Two more milestones down: First Field Trip – Check; First Movie – Check (although she doesn’t remember what she saw).  And the true beauty of these milestones?  Greenleigh actually asked to go to bed 45 minutes early.

What do you think?  Is 3 too young to go on field trips?  If so, what age do you think is okay?