A Memory Restored

Thursday April 18, 2013

Today my son’s preschool class went on a nature hike to a local creek. This was his 4th time on the hike – he went with my daughter the 2 years she was at the preschool, and went with his own class for the first time last year. We had a great time the first 2 years, but last year was different. I was about 4 or 5 months pregnant, and Edward ran off at one point and I couldn’t find him for about 5 minutes. Naturally I was very freaked out. It turned out he had run ahead and joined up with another class (the kids all wear their blue school shirts and they tend to all look alike). While I was relieved that he was safe, the whole experience had soured for me. For the past year I have tried not to even think about it, as I didn’t want to relive the panic I felt when I couldn’t find him.

There was no avoiding it today though, as we set out once again. And it couldn’t have been a better day. Evan was content and comfortable in my Ergo carrier on my back, and I was able to move about easily, taking pictures and enjoying watching the little ones having fun. And Edward behaved very well. He listened, he stayed with his class, and he even kept his hat on the whole day! Once again I now have good memories of the hike, and can put that previous experience behind me at last.