The Butterfly Effect

Last Friday, I awoke to absolutely heavenly weather--brilliantly-blue skies, gentle breeze, warm sunshine; in short, a delightful day to spend outside. I passed the morning traipsing amongst the brick pathways of nearby Brookside Gardens, admiring the enormous variety of colorful, sweetly-scented flowers, learning about butterflies in a special exhibit dedicated to these delicate winged insects, and generally soaking in Nature in all her glory. And man, was it utterly exhausting. Why, you ask? Oh, did I neglect to mention the six...enthusiastic... 2nd-graders I was charged with corralling and controlling on this School Outing?

At first, I found myself (soothed by the pastoral setting, no doubt) smiling benignly at the combined energy and excitement of a pack of semi-tame 8-year olds. However...after the tenth repetition of the following Rule Reminders: "No running! Stay with the group! (and my favorite) "We walk on the sidewalk, NOT the ornamental stone wall!" (If it had been only my own children, I would have been tempted to add "DUH! What, have you never been out in public before?"), the level of rambunctiousness started to wear very thin. I swear, it's like they all ingested big heaping bowls of sugar for breakfast...with a Pepsi chaser. (And since my little darling was of course assigned to me, I can assure you that at least for him, this was not the case. So I have no idea what the HECK caused his spazziness...Overdose of Fresh Air? Pollen Overload from sniffing all those pretty blooms? Or just a Natural Field Trip High?)

Finally, after our scheduled time of uncontrolled-leaping-about-the-gardens had come to a close (oh thank goodness), we were allowed inside the actual Butterfly House to observe the flitting and flying creatures up-close-and-personal. If possible, the kids were even more charged up by being in close proximity to the butterflies. They stood open-mouthed, eyes raised to watch the swooping, fluttering, and occasionally, landing of the gorgeous, graceful fliers. They were quieter than they'd been all day--except when a bold (foolish...endangered) butterfly would land on a student's arm or shirt, causing a sudden outburst of shrieking, pointing, and general mayhem. My nerves must have been wearing thin by this point, because when one of Riley's friends exclaimed, "Look! I can see its proboscis!" I automatically started to scold, "Hey, we don't use that kind of language!" before my fatigued brain caught up and I realized ...oh...nevermind...official-scientific-bug-term..."Good job, Jason! Keep up the nice work!" Riley's one and only complaint when it was time to leave was that more butterflies didn't land on HIM while he was exploring their habitat. I felt compelled to point out that, if the wannabe-entomologists hadn't all been buzzing around like hyperactive hummingbirds at the time, they might not have frightened off the other wildlife.

At last the teachers instructed their students to kindly desist from menacing the flora and fauna, and get their bums back on the bus for the return to school. Free of the responsibility of herding and supervising my Butterfly Posse, I waved them goodbye with a warm surge of affection...magnified by the fact that I had driven my own car...and therefore didn't have to endure the bus ride with them. So, although it was certainly no relaxing "walk in the park", Nature, the 2nd-graders, and the chaperones all came through unscathed; therefore, we'll chalk this one up as an all-around successful Educational Experience. Now could someone get me a a bowl of sugar and a Pepsi to help me recover?