Today it was easy to get Frunty out of bed even though he hadn't had enough sleep by saying the words, "come look out the window, there's snow!" We woke up to a beautiful, snow covered landscape and were all pretty excited. It happened to be the day of Frunty's trip to the African Museum by tram to Tervueren and Pit and I were invited too.

Daddy took Frunty to school so he could leave with his class. They were supposed to take the bus to the tram stop but due to the snow, there were so many delays that they had to walk all the way to the tram stop. It took them almost two hours, I found out later, to get from the school to the museum. Some people might complain but because they had a beautiful walk through the snowy sidewalks of Chant D'Oiseau, I was happy that the children could enjoy the outdoors instead of staying in the classroom.

I haven't been too crazy about many of the trips by metro but I figured that this trip was safer with the bus/tram combo as it was more or less door to door. But I had already given permission and not known that they couldn't take the bus until it was too late. I just had to pray that all would go well and it did.

I decided to meet them there because I wanted to go ahead with my Thursday French club that I have organized at a nearby cafe. Since I get a "real" francophone to facilitate our group, I don't want to miss a rendez-vous and figured I could catch up with Frunty and his class later. It turns out that I met them at the museum just as they were going so the timing was perfect! I must have been only one or two trams after them.

We enjoyed visiting the museum, looking at all the stuffed animals and seeing the African masks. With carnival coming up, Mme Anne wanted the children to see the masks. (or maybe just get out of the school for a day?) I think she invited DeMille and me so we could see how fun these day trips were because she kept asking if we liked it and finally, asked us for the umpteenth time if we would let Frunty go on the two night, three day trip to the sea with his class in June.

The answer is still, unequivocably, "no". Yes, the day trip was fun in some ways but totally exhausting in others. Yes, it was interesting to see the African museum but frankly, there were a lot of moments when the children stood around waiting for each other to finish in the bathroom or waiting for the tram, or waiting to get our bags so we could go eat lunch etc. etc. you get the idea.

For the record, I am not poo-pooing such trips as long as they are almost 100% safe. We are dealing with 4 or 5 year olds on public transportation, out in the public and at one point, I noticed Laure, a tiny little girl take off out of sight and was able to bring her back to the group. There are just too many opportunities for something bad to occur so I dont' really think it is worth the risk, frankly.

Three days of that would be exhausting given that the nights might be full of children crying for their parents, wetting their beds, whining etc. Yes, I give the worst case scenario but it boils down to the fact that we dont' feel comfortably with Frunty going and he told us he does not want to go. End of story. For Mme Anne to continually pressure us is unnecessary. We are not going to let our little guy to a hotel with a pool by the ocean and to an amusement park for three days. Maybe when he is 13? I dunno. Maybe when it feels right?

Today the same teacher told Daddy that her heart is broken because she thinks that Frunty really wants to go because he said that I had already paid for his trip to the beach. What she doesn't realize is that Frunty's confusing this with his trip coming up with the nonni to the beach. Poor little guy. And let's say he isn't confused. He can be disappointed or sad or angry because he cannot go and his class is going (we don't know how many are in fact going). He can learn to deal with those emotions too and that is a lesson unto itself.

I would say that the topic of this ocean trip with Mme Anne is taking up most of the year and starting to grate on my nerves. The answer was, is, will be "no". Nothing more to discuss. I wish she would get that through her head. As much as we like her and Frunty adores her, enough is enough.