« School is in session, so what about that SAT exam? | Home | What do you do when your teen becomes violent? »
Chaperoning wasn’t all that bad …
By Mother | September 27, 2006
A few days ago, I volunteered to chaperone my daughter’s choir (of 35 teen girls) to their yearly retreat. I was very hesitant at first because I didn’t know what to expect. I have chaperoned on field trips before for younger kids (when my teens were smaller and with my 8 year olds class). Chaperoning little kids was ok - because they are still afraid of parents … So, I didn’t know what to expect in this teen choir retreat. All I know was- it was going to be a noisy weekend.
When we got on the bus, I thought my head was going to explode - 35 screaming teenagers , well, they were not screaming all the way to Camp Edwards which was like an hour away. I guess they were just having fun - singing, laughing, chitchatting. I missed being a young girl. We got to Camp Edwards at 8:30pm and had a snack - unpacked our stuff and had a fun “ice breaker/networking opportunity”. I had the chance to listen to the girls introduce themselves - I heared my daughter speak up and I realized why she LOVES being in this group. She is an only girl … being in this group makes her have 34 sisters - I saw her smile and just felt her happiness and pride.
The following day, they had some choir rehearsals and some Olympics - it was great watching them play volleyball and basket ball and even go rock climbing. Man - I felt ancient. I miss being young - I miss laughing like that! But, I really enjoyed my daughter in action - I saw her real self - how she acts with friends … and I am proud of her. She is well behaved and not as roudy as I thought she was. In the evening, they were grouped together and they performed some hilarious skits - after, we had a bonfire and ate roasted marshmallows. It was a fun weekend all together.
While the girls rehearsed, the mom chaperones were just hanging out. I was able to catch up on some much needed reading and studying. I was even able to take a nap - something I haven’t done in a looooong time. I didn’t have to prepare any meals or wash dishes - YAY! It was heaven. What I thought would be a “blah” weekend turned out to be one of the best ones I spent with my daughter. I am so happy she convinced me to chaperone.
If ever you moms of teens get a chance to chaperone any of your teens activities - do so! They are only that age once … enjoy them. You may end up enjoying the moment - like I did.
Topics: General ChitChat |
October 25th, 2006 at 2:01 pm
Oh, Marie, reading this just warms my heart! You are so on the right track. When my two boys were teenagers, I also loved being a parent chaperone on their many sports related trips. You get to see them being who they really are, and it is such fun. But from a different perspective, I taught high school math for 29 years and as a teacher taking teenagers on trips I can’t say enough how much parents like you were appreciated. And I definitely saw how having involved parents made such a positive impact on teenagers in general.
You talked about laughing with the girls and how you missed being young…someone once told me that my being around teenagers all the time in school kept me young at heart. And you know I think they were right, all those years of teaching and I still don’t feel old!