Stargazing

I have always loved stargazing, so when my wife asked me if I wanted to take a day off and go on a field trip to the planetarium with my 4th-grade son, I jumped at the chance. We were going to a planetarium in Salt Lake, and I had planned to drive my own car instead of riding the bus with the other kids because my nerves typically can't handle so many young ... and loud ... children in a such small space for that long. But parking in downtown Salt Lake can be difficult, so I decided at the last minute to take the bus. When one of the teachers told the kids that there was no singing allowed on the bus I could have hugged him. I also had my iPod with me and was quite effectively able to tune out everything and everyone around me. My son had his own way of tuning out the noise by falling asleep in what looked like a particularly uncomfortable position.


We arrived at the Gateway and spent a half hour playing at the "splash pad" water fountain. My son wasn't in a swimsuit and didn't want to get his clothes wet, so he wandered around while I read a book on the lawn. Then we ate lunch. I had decided to eat school lunch, but my son brought his lunch from home. My lunch was better than expected, especially since my son traded his juice box for my milk and gave me the rest of his turkey-bacon sandwich. I especially enjoyed the carrots and ranch dressing.




I was assigned to keep an eye on three other boys, and my son helped me round them up as we got ready to walk to the planetarium. Finding them, gathering them in one place and keeping them there proved to be quite difficult. While we were walking they kept getting spread out, and it felt a little like herding cats. There were moments where I longed for the quiet independence I take for granted when I'm at work, but somehow my son and I managed to keep the group together and we soon arrived at the planetarium. We spent about 45 minutes looking at the various exhibits, including a giant "kinetic art" contraption that captured the complete attention of everyone in the group for several minutes (which is no small feat with 9 and 10 year old boys). Then we went to the theater and watched "Incredible Universe," which is a show featuring beautiful images of stars and galaxies and a quiet, soothing explanation of how the universe began and the stars and galaxies formed. It was so quiet and soothing, in fact, that I feel asleep.

After the movie I disappointed my son by not buying him a souvenir at the gift shop (he kept asking if we could go back the next day). Other than not getting an overpriced souvenir, I think he enjoyed the field trip. We both stayed awake on the drive home because we had already had our naps, but several of the other kids fell asleep. The noise level was much less than it had been on the drive up, so I didn't have to turn up my music quite as loud to drown out the sound. When we got back I checked my son out early (there was only about a half hour of school left) and enjoyed the rest of my afternoon. Overall I enjoyed the experience and am grateful for the opportunity it gave me to spend time with my son.