Anyone Who Thinks a Tour of Home Depot Should Count as a Field Trip

Crappy Field Trip Planners.  OK, so today was the first day of school after a week of Spring Break.  I checked my email late last night only to be reminded that Monday was the first day back AND a special field trip for the preschoolers.  We were going to...(wait for it)...Home Depot!  Yup, you read it right.  Home effing Depot!  WTF??

My poor kid.  She's the baby and she's sat back for a number of years and watched Big Brother go on some cool field trips.  He went to the pumpkin patch, bowling, a cool, interactive children's museum, and an apple orchard to name a few.  Little Girl gets to go to Home Depot.  Sad thing is, she's not even sure what she's missing.

Last month we had a field trip to the local grocery store.  I kid you not, the manager asked 3-5 year olds: "Does anyone have any questions for the produce manager?"  Are you kidding me with that?  The highlight of that trip was the bakery because they each got a cookie.  The grocery store probably ranks higher since HD didn't give out a snack.

Today, Home Depot was just bizarre.  We had a tour of the store with a perky "associate" who showed us a giant saw, stacks of wood, bags of mulch and pointed out a few specials.  We couldn't even build a bird house?  The kids got antsy and whiny after an hour (the mothers only lasted 15 minutes).  I will say though, I think we wiped them out of pink and purple paint samples - the girls went a little crazy and we didn't stop them, it was the least HD could do for them.


As we're driving home, I asked Little Girl, "Did you enjoy your special field trip today?"  She said, "Yes, but I think the pumpkin patch is better.  The bus ride was fun though."

I get that schools are cutting back and there isn't much funding, but come on!  I will chip in my six bucks so my kid can at least make a bird house or go to a museum.  These corporations invite the schools to come and "visit" for free and the tours just suck.  The kids are bored and have no clue what's going on and the people giving the tours have no idea how to teach kids.  The moms want to stick forks in their eyes, but manage to spend $25 before they leave (did you know there are special light bulbs for dimming??).  Not to mention, I paid for today as a "school" day and let me tell you, my kid learned jack today:  "This is carpet.  Does it feel soft or rough?  Do you have carpet in your house?"  Side note to the moms:  "We're offering free installation through the end of the month!"

I just got a note home today from Big Brother's teacher about his upcoming field trip.  I don't have the heart to tell Little Girl.  BB is going to see the play "Goldilocks and the Three Bears".  Now THAT'S worth missing school for!

10 comments:

Laura said...

I think if that's the best they can do for a field trip at this point, they'd be better off staying at school and doing something special there. Have a fun pj day, or bring snacks to share with everyone. Or even game day. You know the kids would remember that more than wandering through a Home Depot while the associate tries to sell the parents on products and services.

Anonymous said...

ok, even a visit to a park would have been a better choice. seriously...home depot? Even Michael's would have been better...at least they could've made a craft!!

Her Head in the Clouds said...

Home Depot??? WTH? What's next, a field trip to Quik Trip?

Jen Piwtpitt said...

Ooohh....Michael's.....that would be nice.

Crafty said...

This is why homeschooling is actually a growing trend...

Julia K said...

We had to go to the sewage treatment plant and learn all about how they clean it. It smelled. That same day we had to take a tour of the Kohler plant and learn how they make toilets. It was three hours of wandering around with these weird earbud things listening to this guy drone on. The highlight of that day was eating lunch at a playground and getting to play on the equipment. We were eighth graders.

Devi's Blog said...

I am taking my students to home depot.... but this is in addition to other school trips that we are taking through out the year. Im not sure if you are seeing the big picture. we are doing a unit on buildings and water pipes. Many of my students live in buildings and their parents don't need to go to home depot so for them it might be an adventure. I want to show them what long pipes and lumber look like that people use to build structures. They would never understand unless they see it. Maybe that's what your child's teacher was hoping to accomplish.

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Anonymous said...

you guys complain but you don't know what the teachers were thinking. Maybe they talked about building before spring break. it's not about the mom's being bored. you could have made it fun played eye spy. I hope you din't do all this complaining in front of your children.

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