The Writing Mamas Daily Blog
Each day on the Writing Mamas Daily Blog, a different member will write about mothering.If you're a mom then you've said these words, you've made these observations and you've lived these situations - 24/7.
And for that, you are a goddess.
Sunday, December 09, 2007
Chaperone
With four high-octane children and a husband often away on business, my mother never had the energy to go on field trips with me when I was in school.
So for my daughter’s first kindergarten trip – I wanted to be there to share this new experience. I said I would drive to Muir Woods and could chaperone another child. Once there, my daughter, Mimi, darted ahead to her friend, Annali, and her mother, Sherry, while my charge, Aimee, lagged behind, as did Sherry’s chaperoned child, Lizzie.
“Go ahead,” I yelled to Sherry. “We’ll catch right up with you.”
We never did.
“Hurry up, girls,” I kept saying to Aimee and Lizzie. They never heard me. Out of some 40 children and 20 adults -- Aimee, Lizzie and I were last. At one point, a father, Peter, observing my situation, asked the one question that had played like a Mobius Loop through my head. “Wish you were with your daughter?”
“It’s kind of why I came,” I said. Lizzie thrust her arms in the air toward me so they formed a giant V.“ Pick me up,” she said. “I’m really tired.”
This child, who I did not know, and whose mother was not there, and whose life I was responsible for -- wanted me to pick her up?
I needed a pick-me up, too. Say a double-shot espresso latte? “How much longer?” I asked a parent.“ We’re almost there,” she said.
“Hear that, girls?” I said to my charges. “Let’s go!” We raced, well, s-l-o-w-l-y walked, a few hundred more feet. And there, by the banister, was Sherry, her daughter and mine.
“Mommy, Mommy, where were you?” Mimi asked. “I was with Aimee and Lizzie,” I said, while hugging her. My daughter looked up. “Why weren’t you with me?”
It was the same query I would ask my mother when she wouldn’t come on my field trips and I would see other mothers with their children.
I put my arm around Mimi’s shoulders as we walked to the parking lot. Even if it was only a few minutes, and though it wasn’t exactly what I had planned, at least I did get to spend part of my daughter’s first field trip with her.
At least I tried.
By Dawn Yun
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So for my daughter’s first kindergarten trip – I wanted to be there to share this new experience. I said I would drive to Muir Woods and could chaperone another child. Once there, my daughter, Mimi, darted ahead to her friend, Annali, and her mother, Sherry, while my charge, Aimee, lagged behind, as did Sherry’s chaperoned child, Lizzie.
“Go ahead,” I yelled to Sherry. “We’ll catch right up with you.”
We never did.
“Hurry up, girls,” I kept saying to Aimee and Lizzie. They never heard me. Out of some 40 children and 20 adults -- Aimee, Lizzie and I were last. At one point, a father, Peter, observing my situation, asked the one question that had played like a Mobius Loop through my head. “Wish you were with your daughter?”
“It’s kind of why I came,” I said. Lizzie thrust her arms in the air toward me so they formed a giant V.“ Pick me up,” she said. “I’m really tired.”
This child, who I did not know, and whose mother was not there, and whose life I was responsible for -- wanted me to pick her up?
I needed a pick-me up, too. Say a double-shot espresso latte? “How much longer?” I asked a parent.“ We’re almost there,” she said.
“Hear that, girls?” I said to my charges. “Let’s go!” We raced, well, s-l-o-w-l-y walked, a few hundred more feet. And there, by the banister, was Sherry, her daughter and mine.
“Mommy, Mommy, where were you?” Mimi asked. “I was with Aimee and Lizzie,” I said, while hugging her. My daughter looked up. “Why weren’t you with me?”
It was the same query I would ask my mother when she wouldn’t come on my field trips and I would see other mothers with their children.
I put my arm around Mimi’s shoulders as we walked to the parking lot. Even if it was only a few minutes, and though it wasn’t exactly what I had planned, at least I did get to spend part of my daughter’s first field trip with her.
At least I tried.
By Dawn Yun
Labels: Dawn Yun
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