We went on a really nice little field trip on Tuesday.  It was organized by one of the moms in one of my homeschool support groups.  We went to Trailside Nature Center to learn about amphibians.  I brought all three of my children on this trip, which proved to be a big challenge. 

First we looked at a little slide show about amphibians. Challenge # 1.  My youngest, 21 month old Paulie, was not all that interested in the slide show.  He did not want to sit quietly on my lap either.  So, of course I had to bring him outside, all the while worrying about whether or not my 4 & 5 year olds were going to behave themselves now that they were unsupervised.  But they were perfect little angels (big relief!). 

After the slide show we hiked down to the pond with our nets to try and find some amphibians. Here is challenge # 2.  Paulie wants to walk around on his own of course, and of course I have to follow directly behind him for fear he will either go into the pond or off into the woods.  At the same time I'm having to keep an eye on James and Ryan who at this point are wading out into the pond with their nets.  This scenario is sheer torture for a nervous mom like myself.  After finding many cool little creatures (frogs, snails, baby dragonflies and damselflies, frog eggs) we hiked over to a stream in search of more amphibians. 

Challenge # 3:  Paulie wants to walk the trail by himself.  I know I don't have to tell you how slow a 21 month old trying to walk a rocky, bumpy, nature trail can be.  So now we are far behind the group and my other two are no longer in my line of vision.  Again, sheer torture for an overly nervous mom. 

We finally get to the stream.  A nice, shallow stream, this was going to be so much more relaxing. Or so I thought.  Challenge # 4.  Since all the kids were in the stream, of course Paulie wanted to go in too.  Me, wanting him to have fun too, held his hand and let him walk in the stream.  But of course he did not want to hold my hand and struggled with me the whole time.  Then it was time to go and of course he did not want to go.  He wanted to stay in the water.  Now comes my sweet little Paulie's first real temper tantrum.  So as we are making the long trek back, I'm carrying a sqirming screaming not quite yet two year old under one arm.  He was so upset, I was so upset.  When we finally got back to the nature center he was his happy self again and I was exhausted.  I got them all into the car and changed them out of their wet clothes and shoes.  My older boys had a ball and learned a ton but I was so glad it was over! 

So goes so many of our outings.  It can be a challenge doing things for the older ones when you have a younger one.  But I just try to suck it up and deal with it.  Because if I didn't go places because it would be challenging or difficult, we'd never leave the house.  And we'd miss out on some really good opportunities.  I'm all for staying home.  That is where I'd always rather be.  But when these opportunities come up I am glad I don't follow my initial gut feeling and pass them up, because they always wind up being good for the boys and I always magange to survive, even if its just barely.