About a week ago, the girls brought home a note saying their Brownie troop would be taking a field trip to Chicago's Shedd Aquarium.
Now, a little background first:
Their troop leader is not the most organized person in the world. She's shown up late to outings and has forgotten to send out permission slips. She's also notorious for giving zero notice to hold or cancel impromptu meetings and field trips.
My favorite is when she gives less than 1 day notice to bring supplies for troop craft projects. One time, she asked us to send along an empty gallon-sized milk jug for a project they'd be constructing the next afternoon. And no, she wouldn't have extras. (Yes, I only had one, full gallon in the fridge at the time. And yes, I have two girls in the troop.)
So, when I heard this woman was planning on taking my babies to downtown Chicago -- and read how she planned to do it, I just couldn't let them go.
Here's a snippet from her email, explaining how she planned to take 20 third graders to Chicago:
Yes, our field trip is this Saturday and we are going to the Shedd. I feel that it would be in everyone's best interest if we did not drive to Kenosha to catch the Metra. The Metra ride from Kenosha to Chicago is almost 90 minutes due to the amount of stops the train is scheduled to make. We could drive directly to the Shedd but it costs about $18 per car just to park.
I also know that most of the girls are looking forward to riding the Metra. Therefore, I feel we should drive a bit further into Ill. to catch the train. There are 3 possible stations we could stop at. They are:
- Highland Park leave at 9:34 and arrive in Chicago at 10:30= 56 minute ride (beautiful station)
- Glencoe leave at 9:43 and arrive at 10:30= 47 minute ride, nice station
- Kenilworth leave at 9:53 and arrive at 10:30=37 minute ride, also a very nice station
You can view any of these stations if you google "Kenosha Metra", go to the site, pull up the schedule and scroll down to each stop. Click on the name of the station.
When we leave to come home the times are:
- Chicago to Highland park are leave at 4:35 and arrive at 5:24= 49 min ride
- Chicago to Glencoe are leave at 4:35 and arrive at 5:16= 41 min ride
- Chicago to Kenilworth are leave at 4:35 and arrive at 5:06= 31 min ride
Based on the above information I feel it would be best for all involved if we left school and drove to the Kenilworth Metra station. That would allow the girls to have the experience of the train but with the least amount of travel time. It would allow us to arrive back there just after 5 p.m. and home shortly after 6 p.m. so the girls can eat dinner.
We will arrive at school at 8 a.m. Leave by 8:15ish. It is about 80 miles to Kenilworth, so it should be about an hour and 15 min. to get there. This will give us 20+ minutes to get our tickets and organized.
We will arrive in Chicago at 10:30 a.m.
From the Metra we will catch the trolley that will take us directly to the Shedd. We will arrive there, get tickets and enjoy the Shedd.
Each girl will need to pack a lunch and 2 snacks. One for the morning and one for the afternoon. I will need each chaperone to bring a backpack to help carry the lunches. I do not have a trolley schedule, yet, but we will be leaving the Shedd at about 3:30 to catch the return trolley to get to the train by 4:35. This should give us 4.5 hours at the Shedd. We should arrive back home by 6:30 p.m.
Good gawd.
If you were able to follow her note (I was only barely able to keep up), you'll see that she'd planned a pretty damn complicated way to transport 20 eight-year olds to one of the biggest cities in the U.S.
Hey, I've got an idea! How about you check out one of the many fine museums in our own town? Or, if you insist on taking them to Chicago, why don't you charter a bus. What she suggested sounded less like a typical kid's field trip and more like the synopsis of Planes, Trains and Automobiles.
I politely notified her that my two Brownies would not be participating. I tried to delicately explain that I wasn't comfortable with the logistics involved.
She never responded to my email.
When the girls learned they couldn't go, I was deemed, The Meanest Mom in the World. And yes, there were tears.
In the end, a dozen girls took the trip. And thankfully, it sounds like all 12 made it back. Frankly I'm surprised anyone let their kids participate.
Which brings me to ask you... Was I being overprotective by not letting them go? Am I, in fact, The Meanest Mom in the World?
Please vote using the poll, located at the top, right of the screen. I'd like to know if you guys think I'm on track or if I need to loosen up and relax a little.
Thanks, in advance, for sharing your opinion.
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4 comments:
Ok, obviously this troop leader needs to just decide what the heck she wants and tell the parents. Just tell me what you recommend, for goodness sake!
That said, the Shedd is pretty cool and we don't have anything like it in Milwaukee. I guess the question I have: How did this visit relate to a badge or troop work? Did a starfish purchase Thin Mint cookies?
If you trusted the chaperones, then I think you were slightly overprotective... However, I also agree that the leader is on crack. No doubt about that!
So far, none of the field trips have really been tied to any kind of service work. The badges they get for these outings are kinda lame. How many "Party!" badges does a kid need?
In her defense, she did cover basic first aid and bike safety earlier this year, but the field trips have been to bowling alleys and ice rinks thus far.
I don't think I'd allow my kids to walk to the corner with her... Yikes! And if you added up the time she wasted driving further in Chicago and then taking the Metra and trolley than just taking the Metra from Kenosha, you'd find that the trip from Kenosha was much shorter (and simpler). Yikes again! Tatiana is in Brownies and so far, the troop leaders have been competent. Mr. Heller (yes, MR.) is one of the troop leaders and I have to say that he has his stuff together and the girls love him (but not it a weird way at all...his wife helps out when she is available, too). I say, let's plan a little step-cousin outing to the Shedd with our girls (and Jake, of course) sometime in the next few months! It would a lot less stres...
Gosh, the only way I think I'd let my kid go on that odyssey is if I was a chaperon. I'd never be able to trust some flighty babe to get my precious cargo back in one piece. Yikes.
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