MaMaLiRZ

I used the following week to research all 63 National Parks. I am a planner after all and this whole winging it thing isn’t me. Clearly it didn’t work, or did it. We were care-free and making decisions as we went. Maybe I need to rethink all the planning around each trip and just keep winging it? Ugh, that’s not one my pocket book can afford. Remember the Key West hotel, clawfoot bathtub, subzero refrigerator, and “Stone and Sand”? How about I split the difference and plan the Big Rocks and let the little rocks fill in the gaps?

Big Rocks

I created a spreadsheet of each park with their respective addresses. From there I started grouping them into what I thought would be reasonable bites. I’ve long forgotten the schoolhouse restriction of perfect attendance and replaced it with knowledge. A wonderful friend, gave me some sage advice. The kids are allowed a number of days of unexcused absences. They don’t get extra points or paid for the extra days in school and the school doesn’t even acknowledge their dedication so why not extend the natural breaks a little longer to absorb the days? This is my interpretation of what she told me. She was much more eloquent. I slept on the new information and thought, I need to do more research.

I have since learned that a child can miss sixteen “unexcused” absences in Florida (state dependent) per quarter. “Excused” absences can extend beyond that. And, if President Trump gets his way by Executive Order, children may only need to go to school for six months. Are we trying to take a page from the Chinese Cultural Revolution (1966-1976)? Lord help us. History’s mistakes whether ours or someone else’s do tend to repeat themselves, don’t they? During a recent car ride, the kids and I were talking about this idea. Of course on one hand they are excited of the possibility of reducing the amount of time they need to be in school, after all summer is over and school starts in the morning. On the other hand, when I asked them, why do you think President Trump would reduce the amount of time kids need to be in school, my oldest answered, he wants to keep us stupid so we do whatever he says. It cut me deep. Wise in the ripe age of 11 he is!

Going back to excused absences. Another colleague offered that travel to a National Park could be excused if the principle agrees. Ohhh, NOW we are talking. No more guilt. Completely free of those constraints and with the parks broken down I pulled out the school calendar and started planning.

Turns out Florida has three National Parks. Everglades, check. Biscayne, what? and Dry Tortuga, where? The Everglades National Park everyone knows as all of south-Florida (essentially). Biscayne, I hadn’t even heard of, but now know it’s off the coast of Miami. And Dry Tortuga we discovered previously is explored by ferry or seaplane from Key West.

When I started embarking on this idea, I was hesitant. Unsure of whether it made sense. Could I afford it, can we pull it off. Will I lose interest, will the kids? I started sharing my ideas and even downloaded “chinese” TikTok, which my 11- year old immediately informed me that it’s owned by a Singaporean not the Chinese. As I shared my idea and intentions, I expected a mixed review. What I discovered were cousins who have never contacted me before, did and with encouragement. I received DMs from folks I hadn’t talked to in years, with support. YouTube feed back, TikTok feedback, Insta, FB, etc. all comments responded with positivity. I didn’t receive even one comment of negativity. The closest it came was skepticism from family that know me well enough to know that this is a bit (a lot) outside of my comfort zone and were checking in on me to see if I was for real.

The more I talked about it, the stronger it grew. The drive, the passion. Everywhere I looked I saw comments and the universe’s direction and wind in my sails. Or is it Big Brother, listening…? Definitely some of that too. Mark Zuckerberg, you got me. And now ByteDance, you’ve got me too.

In all seriousness, though they are listening, let them hear me say, thank you to all those who have read this far and will continue reading in the many days to come. Every person on this planet deserves to have people that believe in them, as I do, and friends, the chosen family members, that offer shelter and safe-keeping for our thoughts and whimsies. Thank you.