Chadman’s Neighborhood

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In case you didn't know, Squire Boone was Daniel Boone's brother and he's buried in Southern Indiana near Corydon, our first state capital.  He is buried in a cave, appropriately named Squire Boone Caverns.  I know this because I am a fourth grade teacher in the great state of Indiana where our entire social studies curriculum centers on Indiana history.

In our school system fourth graders "always" go to Southern Indiana to visit this and other historical sites first hand.  As a parent I would love my fourth grader to go and experience this trip.  As a "nearing retirement" teacher not so much.  Especially this year.  My class would be able to support a full-time counsellor most days.  Word must have gotten out because only 3 parents volunteered to go as chaperones for my class.  Thanks to my grade-level buddy, who had 10 volunteers, we will divide the students among 13 parents for both classes.  Our goal is always to not assign a group to ourselves so we can be free for the "emergencies" that invariably arise.  This might include anything from misbehavior to sudden illness. 

Tomorrow we will be leaving at 6:30 am on a chartered bus and driving 4 1/2 hours to our first stop, almost on the Ohio River.  We will stay in the southern part of the state and tour the first capital, eat lunch packed by our school cafeteria, and go to the Squire Boone Caverns and Village.  After that we hand each fourth grader 5.00 and hit the local McDonald's for dinner.  Then on to an elementary school which graciously allows us to "sleep" in their gym.  After as much fun as we can handle running and screaming in the gym, we finally get them all settled down in their sleeping bags (hopefully, in pajamas) and attempt to sleep until about 5:30 the next morning.  We discussed appropriate sleeping apparel today and I only had one question asking," what if I don't wear anything when I sleep."

This grumpy teacher's response was, "don't go then."  One child also wanted to know if they had to bring their own pillow.  I couldn't figure out what he was thinking.  Sure, we will provide everyone with a pillow.  I swear we have discussed every possible scenario from, "what if you have sleeping problems and you can't take your medicine?" to "my mom says I have to bring my cell phone."  We have medicine to dispense that ranges from inhalers, ADHD pills and patches, to eye drops and other over the counter "use as needed" stuff.  Hopefully, we won't forget to watch the clock and give everyone the right things at the right time.   Last year I took an inflatable mattress but I decided to try a foam pad this year.  I hope it works at least as well.  You haven't lived until you've slept on a gym floor.  At least the adults have showering privileges.          

After we get up Wednesday morning and eat our cafeteria packed breakfast we will head back up north to Indianapolis to tour the present capital building and museum.  We will have another picnic lunch of bologna and cheese sandwiches provided by the cafeteria and head for home, to arrive around 4:00.  Then off to school bright and early the next morning.  It seems like we should be compensated somehow (like maybe a day off) but it's supposed to be a privilege, I guess.   Oh well, once we return, only 5 more days with kids.  One of those is "field day" which is similar to a field trip, but without any educational merit and no overnight stay, just lots of running around and screaming.  At least my job keeps me from being depressed about my "empty nest."  I can't wait to get back to it.

Izzie, the newest member of the family is looking and feeling so much better.  She was in the hospital for three days with the RSV virus.  I have never heard a tiny baby have so much trouble breathing in my life.  Scary!!

I had these beautiful flowers delivered to me at school on Friday.  The card had the names of daughters, sons-in-laws, and all four grandchildren.  It's amazing what a pick-me-up it is to know that others are thinking of you on special days.  It made the roomful of party-high fourth graders a little more manageable, too.  Today is my youngest daughter's birthday.  It seems impossible that she is 29 years old with 3 children.  There were many times when I wondered if either of us would make it this long.  Especially, and be actually talking and (most times) enjoying each other's company.

Word of advice:  Don't give up on kids when the going gets tough!!  The perseverance is usually worth it.

Baby Izzie (grandchild #4) arrived early on New Year's eve.  This was, of course, the highlight of the weekend.  Her big brother and sister were to go to Aunt Jenny's in Cincinnati for the rest of the weekend.  That gave mom and dad and Izzie time to settle in at home and have some quiet time.  Not so the case for Grandma.  The trip there was pretty uneventful except for the "are we there yet" questions, but they both napped some and were pretty tired after all the excitement at home so all was reasonably quiet.  We all had a fun weekend with Aunt Jenny, Uncle Chad, and Sophie.  We saw a 3-D movie (that was exciting for me).  The action really does appear to jump off the screen.  That evening we went bowling and narrowly escaped melt downs by both little girls.  Then home for a dinner of spagetti, enjoyed by 5 instead of 6, since the melt down came for one, necessitating bed after angrily refusing dinner.  After both girls were in bed, Bailey enjoyed the Wii with Uncle Chad.  Saturday morning went by quickly with a visit to a bookstore for the girls and more video game playing for Bailey.  By the time we left everyone was really anxious to get home.  The ride home was not nearly as quiet as the ride there.  Loud singing, laughter, some arguing, etc.etc.  After 41/2 hours in the car, grandma was quite ready to return to her quiet house.  All in all a great end for 2008 and start for 2009.

Winter is here with a vengence.  It has been around 0 outside with high winds for 4 days now.  We've been very lucky, with no major power outages but in nearby areas people are having to go to shelters to keep warm.  I think it will most definitely be a white Christmas here this year, even though we are supposed to have almost a heat wave tomorrow with a high of 28 degrees.  On Wednesday, more rain, ice and snow.  This is a great time to stay home and sew, read, etc.  Merry Christmas everyone.