Wednesday, April 11, 2007

Hiking Chick

Lizzie left for 5th grade Outdoor Education today. Her duffel was stuffed to the max with all the things on her list except Rain Gear. Unfortunately, her rain poncho blew away a few weeks ago and we haven't replaced it. I'll check the Target $1 bin for a new one the next time we pop in for milk or Pampers. Hopefully, it won't rain on her. The weather report shows snow and I packed long underwear and ski pants, so she should be totally set to handle that type of weather.

Late last week, Lizzie's teacher sent a note home in her Friday folder. The gist of it was that a lot of anxious parents had volunteered to chaperone but there were too many other anxious parents who had volunteered. Neither the buses nor the cabins could handle a sudden influx of parents but parents were invited to have dinner with their child if they really, really needed to do so.

Admittedly, these parents were "very nervous" about their children being away from home and were hoping to chaperone in order to smother their child alleviate their anxiety. But, c'mon! They're ten years old. Its a field trip with other educators and ten year olds. At some point, you've got to let them explore the world alone. Still, there will be those parents who drive up to the campsite, have dinner with their child and then totally camp-out in their car. You know there is at least one psycho parent who is going to do it. Ridiculous.

2 comments:

Mountaineer said...

I would very likely be that psycho parent :) and it wouldn't be my child's anxiety I would be there to relieve :P

LawSchoolMom said...

I used to be that psycho parent. :-) A few Girl Scout overnights later and I'm an old pro at letting go. It WAS very hard at first, though.