#549 School field trip day

Neil Pasricha

It all starts with the permission slip.

Yes, when teachers send them home before the bell rings so parents can rubber stamp the bumpy yellow bus trip to the museum, then it’s on, my friends, it’s on.

Soon the days count down and the buzz builds up as the class gets ready for the day away from school. The middle-ages unit wraps up at Medieval Times, paintings are handed in before the art gallery, and everyone mails a friend a letter before the tour of the post office.

On the morning of the big day you wake up with some extra pep in your step because you know we’re all going far away. It’s time to skip the portables, soggy sandwiches, and long afternoons with the Spanish teacher.

It’s time to do something different.

It’s time … to go for a ride.

Yes, whether it’s the petting zoo, chocolate factory, or a long hike in the woods, it’s time to enjoy the school vacation with some of the following perks:

1. Subs in the house. Taking thirty screaming seven-year-olds to the planetarium is a bit much, so most teachers call in backups in the form of parent chaperones. These subs act like a sweet and sweatered army of substitutes and don’t know enough names or have enough power to mess up the fun. Of course, that’s assuming they’re not your mom or dad. If that happens, your day is done.

2. Wheels on the bus. They go round and round on the way there and back. Yeah, we all gang rush into the slippery seatbelt-free seats and enjoy a loud, laughing party on wheels. There are loud screechy songs, secret makeout sessions, and some friendly gestures at passing motorists. This is also when the classroom’s social structure is on display too — from the cool kids at the back to the nerds sitting with the teacher up front. I really did love sitting up front though. I mean, how about that view?

3. Sealing it in. A friend and I were strolling quickly through an art gallery a couple years back when we stumbled on a group of kindergartners holding a rope and looking at splotchy art paintings. I’ll never remember the jaw-dropping look of pure head-tilting amazement from the little boy at the end of the group — eyes twinkling, mittens hanging out his winter coat, and his whirring brain soaking and swallowing up something beautiful on the wall. And it’s true: field trips often help seal in the learning. Chalk one up for school.

So… let’s enjoy the memories, let’s enjoy the moments, and let’s enjoy the parking lot speed bumps. Yes, let’s all love those special days when dusty chalkboards fade away and buses wheel us down the freeway, far away, far away, far away.

AWESOME!

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Photos from: here, here, here, and here

2,210 thoughts to “#549 School field trip day”

  1. #44 – Green light city

    Here comes that big block of traffic lights that always make you five minutes late for work…but not today. You gape in amazement: as you approach them, each light turns a beautiful clear green. It’s the universe’s way of saying, “You may pass Go. You may collect $200.” And the feeling you get as you cruise along, green lights clicking into place like dominoes, is

    AWESOME!

      1. Thanks for the link, Freddo! :)

        I love this site so much that I started my own 1000 things list in the back of one of my notebooks…and this contest is a chance to share some of the things that are awesome in my life (and everyone else’s, I assume). The numbers are how they are listed in my journal.

        1. Mandy – That is truly awesome! Thanks for sharing so many of your own awesome things with us..

          I had no doubt that Neil had inspired a lot of us to look for the little awesome things in life, but I hadn’t expected it to spawn entire lists! Keep it up! :)

  2. Life as the parent of teenager can sometimes be fraught, but there are occasional moments, when the parent stops trying to guide the teen and the teen stops trying to fight for independance and they laugh, or hug or just reconnect with the love

    awesome

  3. #45 – Songs with your name in them

    Sure, they may have been written 30 years before you were born, but that doesn’t mean they’re not about YOU.

    AWESOME!

  4. Okay I have three awesome things…

    1.) Kissing someone and feeling them smile

    There’s nothing better than finally getting alone time with that special someone, closing your eyes, giving them a nice long smooch, and slowly feeling their lips turn into a smile. It gives you that deep down yet subtle reminder that you mean the world to that person.

    2.) Laying in the grass and feeling the sunshine warm your back

    Now that spring is finally here I’m spending a lot more time outside, especially just laying around with friends in the grass. You have your sunglasses on, maybe a glass of cold ice tea or pink lemonade, and just as you take that cold refreshing sip, you feel the warmth of the sun spread across your back. It’s the warm tingly feeling you get like when you pee your pants… except this is way more socially acceptable!

    3.) Seeing and feeling God working in your life

    There are those rough days when we feel like we’re the only one on the planet that’s going through this and we’re all alone in our fight. But then little things start to happen… a stranger holds the door open for us, there are just enough “take-a-penny”‘s to help us pay for our purchase, a friendly passerby helps to push the car to the nearest gas station, etc. It’s when we really take time to look closely at the world when we can truly see God working in our lives and feel His presence all around us. So when you think about it, we’re never really alone… Awesome!

  5. #48 – The silence before the applause

    The conductor’s arms are still up and the last chord is still ringing through the hall. In a moment will come the awkwardness of “Who Will Start The Applause?”, but for now you can just revel in the echo of an amazing piece of music.

    AWESOME!

  6. New tennis shoes!

    I just rediscovered this awesome thing yesterday and it made me remember all of those times when I was a kid and I got new tennis shoes. My mom would take me to the shoe store, grubby old shoes on my feet, and after much hemming and hawing, we’d walk back out with my feet clad in new run-faster-jump-higher tennis shoes! I’d put the old shoes into the recently vacated shoebox and remember fondly when those well-worn shoes were as exciting and clean as my new pair.

    As an adult, this happens much less often and those old shoes now get relegated to yard work duty, but that excitement still hasn’t gone away. I was jumping around in the shoe store yesterday testing the potential of each pair.

    AWESOME!

  7. After the opening to a tv show, when it goes right to the show and not to commercial.

    No one wants to wait through a commercial to start your favorite tv show.

  8. The sound of snow. It is just so quiet out and peaceful, you can hear the snow falling.

    The smell of rain on hot pavement.

    Shopping for college.

    I have a lot more just can’t think of them right now. I will eventually remember tho.

  9. the most awesome thing to me? that one moment when u wake up in bed in that one comfy spot. the one no matter how hard u try u cnt get back to that one comfy position. its not just me. you wake up so darn comfortable and relaxed. knowing that u have to get up is a bummer cause this one spot gave u that one goodnight of sleep. u try the next night but dont recieve the same results. You try to rearrange ur pillows. you try to sleep in that same way. but it never works. that comfy spot u woke up in is never to be found again. lost in the mystery of sleep.

    this can also be saidof dreams. no matter how much i want to dream the same dream i never can.

  11. The first day of summer.

    We were all kids once, so we all know what it’s like to wake up the morning after the last day of school.

    You open those tired and weary eyelids and already see the sun shining, showing off the beautiful day that lies ahead. And yes, of course you are still a bit sleepy. And no, there is no school; no reason to wake up early. But it’s summer! So how could you NOT wake up. So of course, you jump out of bed and start making those plans for the day. Because admit it people, however old you are, there’s nothing like the first day of Summer. Purely AWESOME!

  12. Socks fresh out of the package. When working in a kitchen and having your own painting business, there are many things you have that don’t resemble your work life in some way. Fresh socks smell great, feel great and look great! One thought though. With all the socks being massed produced, you think that they would be cheaper. :/

  14. #57 – School Bus Safety Drill Day

    Heads up, students. Today’s ride home is going to be a little different. You get to ditch your seats, leave your backpacks behind, and learn about bus safety. Now, any break from the ordinary is great, especially when you’re in elementary school – but when you get to jump out of the bus’s big back door, that makes School Bus Safety Drill Day that much more

    AWESOME!

  16. #60 – When someone offers you his/her seat on the bus

    You’re on the way back from the grocery store / Target / school, and you’re laden with six bags’ worth of burdens. After fumbling for change to pay the bus fare, you realize that every seat is occupied. Strangers avoid your gaze as you attempt to find that one open seat – and just as you resign yourself to a long ride of balancing and trying not to smash those eggs against the bus wall, here comes The Hero:

    He stands up out of his seat and offers it to you with a smile. You might politely refuse his offer at first, but he will not take “no” for an answer. “I don’t have any bags, and you look like you could use a break,” he smiles and steps away from the seat.

    Tears fill your eyes as you sink into the chair, your tired feet all but crying in relief. You smile gratefully at the kind human being who sacrificed his comfort for yours; chivalry is NOT dead, and that is

    AWESOME!

  17. My number one awesome is Banana Bread…need I say more?

    Memories of my Mom’s amazing banana bread with walmuts, still warm, with butter scraped across the fat slice…the first bite, was almost nirvana.

    Before I became a Mom I used to make banana bread for my husband. I loved when he would stumble into the kitchen after catching the first waft from the stove…I swear tears almost came to his eyes when I would look up and say “banana bread”. We could easily put away a loaf by ourselves in one day.

    Now that I’m a Mom both my sons adore my banana bread. The youngest can’t even wait for it to be cool enough. He wants a fat slab with Brummell and Brown slathered on and he blows on it a few times and jams it into his mouth. Again, almost tears, not sure it it’s the heat or the intense pleasure of the lovely banana goodness. Life is good!

  18. #73 – Finding a heads-up penny on the sidewalk

    Because the tails-up ones are unlucky, but the heads-up ones will give you a bounce in your step and a (tiny) jingle in your pocket the rest of the day.

    1. I never knew that the direction of the penny mattered.. You mean I’ve been picking up tails-up pennies for years, and giving myself bad luck? Yikes!

      From this day forward, I will only pick up heads-up pennies..

      Thanks Mandy!

  19. Listening to a great new album over and over til it becomes a part of the structure of your brainpan. You’re humming it while you work, you’re waking up with it ringing in your ears, and every time you listen to it another great line pops out as though it was written just for you. AWESOME!

  20. #89 – Tan lines

    Whether it’s the farmer’s tan from hard work out in the sun, or that carefully sculpted beach/pool tan (replete with the heart sticker you place on your stomach in the same spot every day), proof that your skin has soaked up some of the sun’s goodness is

    AWESOME!

  21. The perfect mug of tea. Exactly the right flavour, not too bitter, but not too sweet. You’ve got the teabag dip down to a science – in for a few seconds, out for a few, back in for *just* a moment. You’ve sat in a cool, sunny spot, maybe watching a good TV show, maybe just peering out the window at the neighbourhood going about its business, hands wrapped around your favourite mug (“Reading is Sexy”… “Man With Raised Eyebrows”… “To the First Man I Ever Loved: My Daddy”) for *exactly* the right amount of time. You raise it to your lips, inhale deeply, get a nice little chin-steam going (cleansing!). And when you finally take that first, long, luxurious sip, warmth – real warmth, not unpleasantly scalding, not boringly tepid – spreads slowly through your chest and into your belly. You are content – you are at peace – you are the tea *master*. AWESOME!

  22. When a fussy baby finally falls asleep. Theres nothing like watching their eyes slowly drift shut and the relief of the silence afterwards.

    1. SO TRUE. and then you spend the next five minutes not moving, for fear that the slightest sound you make will wake them back up to fussiness. :)

  23. When someone is going in or out of a door at the same time you are going in or out so that you just slide right by that door without touching the knob or handle.

    Bonus points if this happens coming out of the restroom!

    AWESOME!

  25. #98 – Three-way calling

    This was in middle school for me: Calling up a friend to discuss plans, and then being able to conference in a third friend. Any more than three, though, and it just got crazy.

    Another use of this amazing phone-ability was the Call-Up-A-Crush technique;

    1) enlist a friend.
    2) have said friend call up Crush (with you still on the line, preferably on “mute”)
    3) listen as your friend casually drops your name into conversation, and hear what Crush has to say about you.

    Careful, though; this has the ability to crush YOU if Crush doesn’t have nice things to say. If it does work out, however, you hang up that phone feeling

    AWESOME!

  26. The conversation between you and that special someone when everything is layed out on the table… you say everything you’re feeling and they say everything they’re feeling… and there is finally a mutual understanding of feelings and an openness unlike any other. It’s a very special moment that will never happen the exact same way. It gives you a liberating feeling because you finally get everything out and at the same time, you are filled with every feeling the other person expressed. The stars align and you’re both on the same page. It’s simply AWESOME!

  27. Perfect timing for this contest, as I had an awesome moment this weekend and couldn’t help but thinking of your blog. Thus may I humbly submit the following awesome thing (I hope it hasn’t been mentioned already!):

    Resetting the ‘on’ setting on your outdoor lights back a couple of hours because there’s still daylight now that spring is around the corner. I prefer to wait a bit longer to off-set the changing of the clocks, since it’s such a great feeling to come home from work for a while and see those tree lights on and it’s still bright out. Re-setting the timer is a lovely reminder we’ve almost survived another winter.

    And that, my friends, is a nice little touch of Awesome!

  28. #108 – The 64-Crayola Color box – with sharpener.

    Day 1 of 3rd grade. As everyone is unpacking their bulging backpacks into their desks, you sit back and glance around. Boxes of 16, 24, and even 48 emerge and are swiftly tucked away. You reach into your backpack and pull it out: the King of Crayon boxes. Set it on your desk as quietly as you’d like; its celestial glow has attracted all the attention you need. Congratulations, Crayon Queen – you are now the envy of your entire 3rd grade class. Feel free to share your tickle-me-pinks and robins-egg-blues with whomever you please, and don’t worry if someone scribbles their night sky so black that you end up with a stub, because YOU have the crayon sharpener. That makes arts and crafts just a little more

    AWESOME!

  29. #93 – Laugh lines around your eyes and mouth

    Proof of age?

    Hardly.

    Proof of a life well-lived, well-loved, and well-laughed?

    Absolutely.

    AWESOME!

  30. #119 – The quiet of a library

    Maybe it’s just because you’re studying so hard, but the shelves and columns of books seem to soak up any excess sound. A magical hush seems to surround the place, making it so much easier for you to hear your thoughts. And anytime we can get away from the hustle, bustle and noise of everyday life is time to sit back, breathe in the silence, and whisper

    “AWESOME!”

  31. #133 – Climbing into a cool sleeping bag

    I can’t be the only one who gets shivers just thinking about the feeling of that cool nylon enveloping my skin as I cocoon down into blissful Camping Sleep Mode. The material is just cold enough to cause a chill before your amazing body heats it up to just the right temperature.

    Pull it up to your chin and let out a sigh of contentment, because you’re in for a night of good cozy sleep, and that is

    AWESOME!

  32. When under the covers trying to fall asleep, the moment that your feet finally thaw out.

  33. #137 – Having a tan line on your finger from a ring

    I’m not married (yet), but I have been wearing a beautiful Black Hills gold ring on my left hand for twelve years now.

    My uncle-and-godfather passed away from an aortic aneurysm when I was in sixth grade. His wife (my aunt and godmother) wanted to give me something to remember him by. The two of them had bought matching rings when they had visited the Black Hills earlier that year. My aunt gave me her ring, and she gave my uncle’s to my father. That leafy gold band has encircled my middle finger ever since, and I am reminded of my uncle every time I look down.

    The few times I have had to take it off, I can still smile – because my finger is a little paler where the ring has resided. I can even see the outline of leaves.

    AWESOME!

    1. This one is super sweet.. I’ve had a wedding ring (going on two years now), and the few times I’ve had to take it off, I felt the same way.

      1. I like how the finger is a little indented, too…mine is skinnier where the ring usually sits.

  34. Everything clean and fresh! You finally have a day off from work and you spend it cleaning the house, washing everything you can find including your bedsheets and quilts and drying everything on the clothesline. Exhausted from all your day off work you grab a long hot shower and climb into bed made with the sheets and quilts still smelling of the great outdoors – fresh from the clothesline – Awesome

  36. Listening to my two teenagers get along! They surprise me many times but after a long, hard day to just sit and listen to them talk and joke together and genuinely enjoy each others company – Awesome!

  37. Ok, not sure if anyone will relaize what I’m referring to, but this is one thing that i find awesome..

    when you can combine two different kinds of foods, drinks, anything edible and it makes a whole new taste! Or it makes the tastes of something else, like grilled cheese and apple slices tatse like apple pie..weird I know but soo good!

    and also of course..AWESOME!

  38. When you are sitting in a room with all the people you love. Friends, family, neighbours and you think wow I am so lucky to have these people in my life.

    And you just smile to yourself. You never forget that moment, because these memories can help you get through some rough times in your life.

    AWESOME!

  39. When youre headed to a long day at work and once you get there, the day flies by like there’s a time warp or something…

  40. randomacts of kindness from strangers.

    thank you mysterious woman who paid for my manicure. =D

  41. #147 – When someone stands up for you

    It might be in a social setting, in school, or in the workplace. You’ve just been verbally lambasted by a superior – or worse: someone you thought was your friend. With a bruised heart and a wounded spirit, you have just decided not to make a “scene” about it, just to let it go, when all of a sudden –

    “That was out of line.”

    In front of EVERYONE, someone comes to your aid. Your co-worker, a classmate, or that person who doesn’t speak up very often takes a moral stand against your abuser.

    It might not add up to a lot in the grand scheme of things, but the fact that someone is on your side is a tally in the column of

    AWESOME!

  42. Passing the seasonal clothing test:

    When you put on clothes you haven’t worn since last spring, summer, etc., and they still fit exactly right. Super duper awesome when the clothing is something really expensive, like a man’s suit. If too tight, you’d have to choose between a.) alteration (admitting to a stranger that you are fatter than you ever expected to be) or b.) ditching it and buying a replacement in a bigger size (i.e. pass the donuts, I give up). That’s a Hobson’s Choice of bummitude, all totally avoided in a single, suspense-filled zippering up. AWESOME!

  43. #152 – Hot-out-of-the-fryer french fries

    They’re practically burning a hole in your paper bag. You can smell the hot grease fumes wafting from the passenger seat where you’ve placed them. You can’t wait a second longer, so you pluck the cardboard fry-box from its nested home, and – can it be? – you can still HEAR the oil sizzling on your food.

    They’re perfectly crisp, perfectly golden, and perfectly salted.

    AWESOME!

  44. When you think you are out of something in the kitchen, but then you look a little harder and realize you were wrong. Condiments are a great example, or that random ingredient in a recipe.

  45. #159 – Old and twisty trees

    They’ve seen generations come and go, and still they grow. They’ve been through tornadoes and hurricanes, and yet they stand. Branches may have been ripped away, but these stalwart soldiers of Earth refuse to succumb to the mere forces of nature.

    They are not always pretty, but they always have stories, and that makes them

    AWESOME!

    http://www.messinaur.com/photogallery/Old_Tree_19.jpg

  46. when your significant other kisses you with such pressure and urgency.

    its like theyve waited all day for this moment and couldnt stand not having the feel of you against them for another minute. it makes you feel special,

    and awesome’

  47. Seeing a Canada Goose up in a tree. Seriously, when is the last time you saw a giant water bird up in a tree? I didn’t think webbed feet were made to cling to bark! It just reminds me to expect the unexpected. And also, that every animal species has a weirdo. Let’s applaud them all!

    ps: I have seen this a couple of times, and laugh whenever I do.

  48. All things Benjamin Franklin is held responsible for.
    Bifocals
    First urinary catheter produced in America
    Electricity
    First fire company
    First fire insurance company
    The furnace stove (the Franklin Stove)
    Odometer
    Glass Armonica
    Daylight Savings Time

  49. trying to figure out how Neil incorporates all the pictures into the topic before you read the full article.
    AWESOME

  50. The moment that you fully understand how to do something new that you are learning in math.

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