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.
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