Totally off-subject

So today I chaperoned my son's first grade field trip. For all of you out there who think teaching is an easy job, let me tell you it is not. His class is crazy. A grandparent and I had 9 kids, and the teacher had the other 8. She SPLIT UP the class, so that the groups were roughly even personality wise. These kids, who are all nice individually, are just crazy. So much talking and disrespectful behaviour. I was constantly having to talk to the kids, stare at them, put my hand on their heads, TURN THEIR HEADS, gently guide them back into their seats, remind them about the rules. Constantly. For 1.5 hours. I was totally exhausted at the end. The three worst out-of-control kids (in my group -- remember, his teacher also had at least three out-of-control kids) really ruined the experience for the other kids because we had to spend so much time waiting for them to behave. I can't imagin having to have dealt with that every day for the past year. Seriously, it was that bad, and so much work that it wasn't even fun. I feel really sorry for the well-behaved kids, who have probably suffered all year long.