On Saturday morning, I took Dylan and Summer to pick up trash at our local nature center. With all the craziness going on in the world right now (earthquakes, tsunamis, dictators trying to kill their own people), it felt good to get out and do something. Even if that something is just cleaning up a nature preserve.
6-year-old Dylan embraced the job immediately…
But 4-year-old Summer saw herself less as a “worker” and more as a “supervisor.” She would point out the trash so the rest of us could pick it up.
We found all kinds of things from plastic water bottles (people know these can be recycled, right?) to candy wrappers to bags of beer cans.
The beer cans were clearly the aftermath of a spirited teenage weekend. I know I should have been disgusted that our youth would just throw all their party trash into the woods but I was actually jealous that my days of heaving empty beer cans out my car window are long over. And I also can’t believe nobody drinks wine coolers anymore. So delightfully fruity and delicious. The Bieberberry wine cooler will make a debut. It’s only a matter of time.
As we trekked through the woods, I was a little nervous that we might stumble upon a body which may be the result of living too many years in New York City. But we found nothing all that interesting until I heard Dylan say…
“This is COOL.”
“What?” I said as I turned around.
“This dinosaur bone.”
And there in my daughter’s hand was some kind of animal skull.
“Wow. That is something.” I said. “Throw it on into the garbage bag!”
“No, I want to keep it,”she replied.
“Umm… I’m not sure honey. It might belong to the nature center. Let’s check with the girl in charge here.” That girl turned out to be Chrissy who said they would clean the skull for us and then we were welcome to bring it home. Fabulous!
So on my to-do list this week is…. Pick Up Animal Skull.
Dylan wants to keep it in her room.
And because I actually want to sleep again, I’m insisting that we keep it outside.
So if you’re bummed out about all the bad stuff going on in the world, I might suggest you just make a donation from the skull-less comfort of your own home.
P.S. Tutus are not required for nature center clean-up. But my girls insist on wearing pajamas all weekend so I make them put on a skirt or tutu so it’s more of an outfit.
22 Responses to volunteer work is not for pansies
Leave a Reply to maria from nj Cancel reply
kelcey kintner
Dinosaur skull. Awesome.
Darn. No picture of the dino skull. Love the skirts.
Fabulous! Delightful, productive and philanthropic. mom
love the tutus. and that you took your kids out to volunteer.
Just laughing. That is all.
Bieberberry? Oh, Kelcey.
You are a good mama, showing them how to give back AND letting them wear pjs and tutus while they do it.
In a pile of mulch, our landscaper once delivered a large skull with impressive teeth! I filled up the van with 8 second graders and headed to the Natural History Museum in Phila, where a basement-dwelling creature known as a curator solved the mystery of the “pig skull”. I could have sworn we were all going to make the 6:00 news with the dicovery of the ‘Franasaurus’. We did have quite an adventure of it and it still sits on my son’s dresser 22 years later! Luckily my son left years ago.
Obviously Chrissy has no children of her own!
Maybe you could make a wine cooler holder out of the skull. It would take you back to MT everytime you looked at it.
Those are the best garbage picking outfits I’ve ever seen. Def. better than those orange jumpsuits the guys on the side of the highway wear 🙂
Good on Summer for sacrificing to take on the supervisory role! It’s an important role.
Am I the only one that wants a picture of the skull?
*sigh* I want to wear a tutu over my pajamas. I think this is a brilliant plan.
Sitting hear deliriously happy that no skulls have been brought into my house. Yet.
I hate when animal skulls weasel their way into my schedule. Do you have it written on one of those note pads that suctions to your minvan windshield?? I love that image.
Good for you, btw, to bring your girls out for some civic duty. I’m feeling inspired to do something, too, but haven’t figured it out.
Lucky you, they didn’t find a used condum in the clean-up. When I was their age, I showed my mother the ‘balloon’ I had just found in the street as I was happily blowing it up for. I had no idea of why she went into a panic and grabbed it out of my hands.
Love it!
I was wondering about the tutus, thanks for clearing that up for me.
You are the best mom ever.
The P.S. on this post totally made my morning.
Oh, wine coolers, those were the days. Good for you for getting out there – and the tutus totally make them look like paleontologists.
nothing like putting on latex gloves & picking up garbage, who need toys? 🙂