Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Plans for the POWER TO THE PEOPLE! Express

The day after Barack Obama was elected president, my son-in-law Jim decided we should go to the inauguration and booked two rooms at the Marriott, just a few blocks from the White House. (Don’t ask me how much they cost. I do not want to know.) So we are taking a family road trip to Washington, D.C.

Last night my granddaughter Heidi had a sleepover and we spent some time making plans, which include Washington School. I will be the teacher, because I am a professional. She will be the assistant, because her cousin Jake is only in the first grade and is likely to need a lot of help. Bepo, AKA her grandfather, will be the coach of recess—for which, she suggested, he “might want to get some balls together.”

Heidi is in the second grade, and very enamored of the whole concept of school, especially the part about rules. She loves rules—and there will be rules in Washington School, strict ones, about what we will be learning, when we will be learning, when there will be homework, when there will be tests, when there will be field trips, and, of course, when we will eat lunch. She spent considerable time making folders for herself and Jake, including one for “Thought Protection” which you don’t put stuff in, but prop on your desk like an open book to protect your thoughts from others. (I don’t know whether I think this is genius on the part of whatever teacher thought this up, or whether to be alarmed because, apparently, kids aren’t allowed to use the word “cheat” any more.)

After getting the rules set in stone and the folders under control, we moved on to contemplate what supplies will be necessary for Washington School (i.e. glue sticks, new markers, special notebooks, more folders, stickers for good work, etc) and when we could schedule the trip to Office Depot to buy them. (Probably this weekend.)

The actual academics of Washington School remain pretty hazy. But that’s okay. No doubt we’ll all learn something! And, being the professional, I get to make up the tests, so I’ll make sure everyone passes.

Stay tuned. We leave Friday evening, January 16. Blogging will part of the Washington School curriculum.

2 comments:

Lisa Jenn said...

Your granddaughter is an intimidating figure!

"Thought protection" sounds very creepy and euphemistic to me, in an Orwellian way.

Barbara Shoup said...

She is definitely a girl with a plan. Actually, MANY plans:-)