So P is back from her trip on Tuesday night. Here’s the rest of our parental ordeal till they were back

Day 4 :cursing the school and the stupid camping company for not letting us speak to the kids and taking them away for such a long time

Night 4: 8:30 pm at this time tomorrow we will be on our way to pick her…. 9:30 pm we will be waiting at this time tomorrow for the buses to arrive….. 10pm she will be here!!!

Day 5: oh god why is the time not passing? Have they left? Where are they? Have they finished lunch? How many hours?

And by the time the evening arrived there was super confusion on the parents WhatsApp group formed for this trip. The group had all parents plus the teachers on the trip, a school rep and the primary school principal. The teacher kept sending live location updates and the parents kept lagaoing their dimaag (using their brains) as to what the arrival time would be. Half of them were not considering the traffic or the fact that buses will travel slower than cars. There were 4 different ETAs till 6pm. And the school rep was not saying anything. Uff!!! Finally she messaged and said that we need to be in school by 8:30pm (we were earlier told that they will arrive by 10pm). So now we rushed and somehow managed to reach school in good time before the buses arrived.

We all stood in the school portico to welcome the buses. That moment for us was as if some celebrities are coming. We were excitedly waving out at the buses as they arrived…. all parents eager to see which bus their child is in…. spot my child!!! Then the kids started getting off the buses and everyone rushed to hug the kids. It was as if humare bachche koi jung jeet ke aa rahe the (as if our kids were back after winning a war). There was excitement and squeals and hugs. The teachers had to intervene and tell everyone please back off and meet the kids in the courtyard. You need to sign out your children with the respective teachers.

What an atmosphere and there was still so much energy. The kids were so happy and we were happier to see that the kids came back happy and with so many stories to tell us.

For me it truly felt as if my P has won a battle and come. Both girls still sleep in my room. P refuses to try sleeping in another room forget going to someone else’s house for a sleepover. The only thing I was truly worried about was whether she will sleep properly. It was 4 nights at a go and I just wasn’t sure she would survive it. But she managed just fine.

She was so happy about the trip and she enjoyed herself thoroughly. All along the car ride back home she gave us complete details of all the activities they did. Her favourite was the trek. They went uphill on the hill that their resort was located on. They went half way first and then only a few kids (including herself) and an instructor went till the peak.

I’m glad the school gives them such awesome experiences. It really brings them out of their shell and comfort zones. They do things which they are generally apprehensive in trying. In general P is not very adventurous and rope walking and other such activities are not preferred by her. (Not that we are all that adventurous either 😉)