So over a month ago, I got to chaperone Travis and his fifth-grade buddies on a two-day trip to Washington, DC. Like the time I took Hallie two years ago, I had cleared my calendar for it and was greatly looking forward to it. I’ve always tried to be there with the kids for these special events and was going to do anything to go.
Initially, though, it seemed I would miss out. The night of the mandatory chaperone meeting at Conn Elementary, I had to give a pitch about the PTA at a Ligon event. I explained to Travis’s teacher that I desperately wanted to go but had an important obligation. To my dismay, she explained that this wasn’t possible – that there were already enough chaperones – and I was welcome to be placed on a waiting list if I chose.
I was really crestfallen. I moped for a while. I even started to resent serving in the Ligon PTA. My kid was going to a place that was purely magical to me when I was his age and I wouldn’t be there to enjoy it with him. Truth be told, we’ve both been to DC many times, but it would be special to go on his trip with him.
Several weeks passed and I’d come to accept my missing out, then to my surprise I got word that there was a spot open and would I like to join them. I promptly sent in my payment and began to count the days.
The trip day arrived and dozens of groggy parents sat with their kids in the cafeteria while roll was taken and the buses arrived. I helped load some supplies onto the bus and Travis and I settled into the bus seats as we hit the road.
My chaperoning duties were a bit different this time around then when I accompanied Hallie. As a dad chaperone, I was not able to stay with Hallie during her trip, though I was welcome to be with her during the day. As such, I got my own room that time, which was nice. This time around, I was put in charge of Travis and two polite twin boys.
Being a twin myself, I know what twin brothers are like. Twins have a built-in need to stake out their own identities and these two brothers fit the mold. One of them was quiet and a bit contemplative and the other was loud and a a bit of a class clown. They had a habit of being incredibly interested in everything they saw. I loved seeing that curiosity and enthusiasm but, boy, did it make me work! I had to reel them in constantly. I’d turn my back for a second and they’d be drifting away in the sea of surrounding tourists.
As for Travis, he seemed to keep mostly to himself. I have always enjoyed watching how our kids act around their friends. It’s a side of them I don’t normally get to see. There were friends on the trip that Travis is closer to than those in our group and he did interact with them from time to time. Mostly, though, he was interested in what we were there to see and just hanging out.
We checked out a lot of museums and highlights, including the Natural History, American History, Smithsonian Air and Space, and the World War II memorial, among others. Visiting the Vietnam Memorial on the 40th anniversary of the fall of Saigon was emotional for me. We also stopped by the new 911 memorial at the Pentagon, for which I have mixed feelings. It was my second visit to the MLK memorial and I like it more every time I go: a monument for a peacemaker! You don’t see a lot of that in DC.
The kids enjoyed it all, though, and were good sports for all the walking and waiting. By the time we got back to our hotel for the night, though, I was ready for some rest. I told the boys that the door doesn’t open unless I open it and they followed the rule. After they got ready for bed, I got ready for bed, too and we all had lights out by 10 PM. It was an uneventful night, everyone slept well, and the hotel breakfast made a surprisingly good sendoff for our second day.
We saw more memorials and museums on day two, including outside the White House. I enjoyed the knowledge provided by the paid tour guide we had hired, learning a lot about DC landmarks that I never knew before. We packed a lot of things in before turning the bus south for home.
The bus ride was interesting, with boys talking loudly to each other trying hard to crack each other up, and someone near me filling the bus with some awful, obnoxious odors. The stop at Golden Corral was challenging, too, as my temporary charges were clearing out the dessert offerings. As a chaperone I was unsure how to police someone else’s kids when it comes to eating habits, so what could I do? I felt a bit powerless here.
The bus eventually rolled back into Raleigh and Travis and I slept very well that night. It was a fun trip but exhausting, too. The other chaperones later declared that I had worked the hardest of them all. Maybe so, but I wouldn’t have missed it for the world.