Wait a cotton pickin' minute!

A couple of weeks ago I drove towards Jacksonville to meet up with Darci to drop off some pants for their little man, Cade. On the way home I noticed all the cotton fields and decided I needed to bring the kids back that way so they could see them. How cool!
Now, I've come to a realization with the aid of my sister. Well, first of all is it strange that I see a cotton field and feel I should take my kids to go see it, touch it, experience it, learn about it and from it? I'm kind of a 'every moment is a teachable moment' kind of person....I sort of feel like that's my job as a parent. So honestly when my girlfriend in Maryland that home schools her kids (I'm not passing judgment as to if I think one should or shouldn't, to each his own) says, "I'm taking my kids to the zoo for home school" I can't help but think, "wouldn't you take them there anyways?"
So anyhow, when talking to my sister about I don't even know what (probably one of my excursions) she pointed out to me that what I do (teachable moments) isn't normal necessarily. She said (paraphrased) "Kelly, you take your kids to the zoo and tell them about this or that and explain this or that, teaching them. I take mine to the zoo and we look at the animals." Ah, ha! So, that takes me back to the "to each his own" comment. I'm not saying it's wrong or right, but I do (obviously) prefer my way. I'm a sucker for knowing how things are made or where they came from. I really could sit and watch shows like How it's Made ALL day long and never get tired of it.
So anyways, back to my cotton fields. We went to a spot where we could drive right up. I actually think the little two fell asleep in the truck so the three of us when and checked out a field at its edge. I picked one head off so they could touch it and feel the seed inside the cotton. It was a nice little afternoon adventure that touched on slavery in the South and what cotton turns into.
This is one of the reasons I like moving so much! Books are priceless but when you've been there and seen it....that's awesome! (I can't wait to show them the picture of us at Hiroshima A bomb drop site and Nagasaki when they are studying that someday....you. were. there!)
On the way home we counted how many fields of cotton we saw, and I promise they hadn't noticed them on the way in. Brett took a field trip a few days later and came home to tell me that on his bus ride to his field trip he saw three cotton fields......see that, it even stuck! Yippee!