time to cut the chord?

So I already know I am not the cool mom. I am not the mom that let's my kids go to sleep overs or other kids' houses if I don't really know their parents. I monitor everything they watch and play. I want them with me all of the time. Still I thought that there were things that I would be fine with and as it turns out I am not. So when do you cut the chord so to speak? Where do you draw the line? I don't know. I do know that there is class trip for Aidan coming up to a farm for strawberry picking that I am not letting him go to. Not that he is disappointed.

Aidan up until this one has gone on every class trip. Quite frankly they are overrated. You spend more time sitting on the hot, stinky, crowded bus than doing anything else. Not to mention 30 or so screaming children. The class trips are always at the end of the year on the hottest day. They are always at a farm or other equally thrilling destination. And the activity is almost always picking some sort of vegetation or possibly looking at animals. Sounds like a blast right? I am sure there are those that think that it is. But for the most part everyone is on the same page. The class trips are lame. They suck. And yet we all send our children so they won't miss out? On what? The public grammar school experience? Like I said up until this point Aidan and I have gone on all of them. After each one I felt like we could have stayed home and had a better time.

This year we got the notice with the permission slip. I hung it on the refrigerator. Debated for days about sending it back in. There is no way that I could possibly chaperone this trip. Not with two younger children. One that is still breastfed and would not eat from 8-3 if I did go. Okay I can't go. No big deal. But do I let Aidan go with out me? I am sure some other mother would make sure he wears his seatbelt on the bus. Right? Surely some one will keep an eye on him and he will not wander off at the farm. I mean they do a head count and all. Right? So why is my gut telling me to not let him go.

I am not the cool mom. But am I neurotic mom? Is it time to let go and I'm just not ready? Or.... am I perfectly sane? Do I just trust that motherly instinct that has never failed me yet and pass on this trip? Sane or not. Trusting my instinct or holding on too

tight. I am not sure. What I do know is that this trip will not be that childhood memory that will scar him if he misses out. I already told him he is skipping this trip. He just shrugged his shoulders and said ok. What I didn't tell him is that we have a field trip of our own planned for that day. You will have to read my future blogs to find out what it is. I promise it will be better then picking strawberries on the hottest day of the year.

last years class trip