The Best Field Trip Ever: Month of the Military Child Reflections

If you asked me what the epitome of my military childhood experience was, I’d say fourth grade. No question.

Part of it was my teacher, who was also my godmother, my Sunday school teacher, and my knitting and crocheting instructor. While dad was deployed and mom was working, my fourth-grade teacher was my favorite adult to be around. She also, very openly, treated me as her favorite student.

That year, she took us on 13 field trips. Thirteen. At the end of the year, our big class project was to create a booklet documenting every single one. I loved that assignment. It impressed upon me the importance of documenting cherished experiences.

Otherwise, I don’t remember most of the trips today. But I do remember one.

The chocolate factory. 🍫

I remember walking in and feeling like I had stepped into a completely different world. Assembly lines stretched out in every direction, chocolates emerging, being wrapped, boxed, and sent on their way, all without anyone touching them! The machinery felt almost impossibly advanced to me. I remember thinking we probably shouldn’t be standing this close. But I couldn’t look away.

At the end of the tour, we stopped at the souvenir shop. I bought a cute miniature gumball machine, shaped like one of those arcade claw games, where you maneuver a hook to try to capture a gumball and drop it into the slot. It was my most cherished toy that I kept for years, a reminder of the best field trip ever.

Today, I can’t recall the name of the factory.

But I still remember that feeling of walking into a place completely outside of anything I knew, and just taking it all in. To that little girl: that sense of wonder, adventure, and excitement never left you. And every time you step into a whole new world, you get to feel it all over again.

Happy Month of the Military Child. 💜

— Jen