MrCutie is finally embracing the idea that there are more places to learn than just at home for homeschool. So, when we had to pick up Sweetheart from school (because SHE still goes to school) to take her to the clinic (she has bronchitis by the way), MrCutie decided since it was different from the scheduled school work, it was a field trip. We always debrief  with “What did we learn” from these experiences. This is what we learned on Wednesday, which was also McHappy Day:

1. People are VERY likely to buy raffle tickets from a nice police officer standing in the drive-thru lane at McDonald’s on McHappy Day. This can make drive-thru lanes on these days pretty slow!
• But, it’s worth it, especially to take lunch to Dad, who was working hard and forgot to pack a lunch.
• And maybe not-so-worth-it when Mom won’t buy a Big Mac or Happy Meal for everyone in the car, because there’s NO NEED when the trip is simply going to include a quick run to the clinic, maybe to the pharmacy, and then to HOME, where snacks can be gathered without the use of Mom’s bank card.
2. Remember which pedal is the brake, and which one is the accelerator. It could be the difference between driving into the shopping center, or simply parking in the shopping center parking lot.
3. Shopping center front windows don’t make as much noise when a car crashes into them as you might think.
4. 

   large, heavy mall garbage can

   Mini-van + large outdoor garbage can + storefront + unanticipated acceleration = lots of glass and crunched metal.

5. A garbage can on top of a mini-van actually looks really funny, but it’s not good for the roof or front windshield of the mini-van.
6. A mother’s curiosity regarding others’ misadventures is only matched by her strong desire to keep her children from getting in the way of the aftermath of others’ misadventures (i.e., I have no photos of the crash – I was too busy trying to keep MrCutie from joining the crowd forming around the crunch site!)
7. Tongue depressors are gross, and Sweetheart has a soft gag-reflex……. this can be a dangerous combination.
8. Navigating a shopping center parking lot where a garbage can is sitting on top of a mini-van can prove to be quite a challenge, and Mom CAN do it without calling anyone bad names.
9. “Running in to grab the prescription” isn’t nearly as straight-forward an operation as one might assume.
10. Last but not least, don’t forget to bring a snack on any field trip…. since you never know how long the clinic doctor will need to spend checking on people who drove into the storefront before getting back to his own clinic patients, or how long the prescription will really take to fill.

A couple of points of clarification:

• There was no puke involved in this excursion (thank goodness!);
• It was NOT me who ran into the storefront (thank goodness!);
• Nobody was seriously injured (thank goodness!);
• and during a longer than anticipated wait, MrCutie was thoroughly entertained (thank goodness!).

Also, on a more serious note, in our community, proceeds from McHappy Day go toward the Family Centre. MrCutie learned some cool stuff with the “Worry Dragons” program presented by the Family Centre, so he thought it was great that the whole community was supporting them.

Yes, it was definitely an educational adventure. You just never know what you’re going to learn when you’re out on a homeschool field trip!