Brenna's Kindergarten Field Trip

Today Brenna's kindergarten took a field trip to the Zoo. I thought I had signed up at the beginning of the year to be a chaperone, but no one called me. So my first awareness of "field trip day" was when the permission slip came home last Wed. Brenna asked me to come with her, but I am heading to a conference tomorrow and I still had work that needed completing before I could leave.

They lost Brenna at the Zoo.

Each chaperon had four children assigned to her, and from what I can gather from various tellings by Brenna (since I received no note or phone call from the school or teacher) they were in the fish exhibit, a darkened interior room. She was looking at the fish, turned around, and couldn't find anyone she knew. She looked around for a few minutes and was not sure what to do next, when a woman (she thinks this woman was a chaperone for another school group) asked her if she was lost. When she said yes, the woman took out her cell phone and called the phone number printed on Brenna's nametag. I presume the school office called the teachers, who called the chaperones, because someone came to pick up Brenna a few minutes later.

Apparently two moms had been walking together with their combined eight children and they walked out of the area without counting. Brenna said they were very "mean" after that, said things in a mean way, and wouldn't let go of her hand. (I wouldn't think so!)

She had a terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad day. (If I may quote from Judith Viorst)

When they sat down to eat their sack lunch later, she claimed she wasn't hungry. But I know Brenna... she was still upset over what happened. They tried to force her to eat; uh-oh - you can't "force" this child to do anything. She's the only one who's ever brought my dad to a draw! You have to leave her alone, ignore her, but tell her exactly how long lunch will be "available." Then she'll decide to come eat.

So she didn't eat, and they put her sack lunch back in the cooler. But then the chaperone didn't give it back at the end of the field trip. So until 4 p.m. when she arrived at after-school care, all Brenna had to eat was a handful of scrambled eggs at 7:15 this morning. The after-care teacher said she was crying so they fed her two sausage biscuits.

I had been worried about her all day - feeling guilty that I didn't clear my schedule and go up to the Zoo. I pushed aside my feelings thinking that I was just letting it get the best of me. Those feelings don't seem too ridiculous now.

I'll be walking Brenna into the school tomorrow to have a talk with the teacher before my flight leaves in the morning. I would really like to know why none of the adults sent home a note or called me. Didn't they know she would tell me herself?