Thursday, July 26, 2012

Sorry, Michelle...

A couple days ago, we received the following email from the school's headmaster.



We have just been contacted by the US Embassy with regard to a very interesting opportunity.

This Friday, July 27th, First Lady Michelle Obama will be hosting a "Let's Move!" event for American and British children aged 8 to 14 at Winfield House, the US Ambassador's residence in Regent's Park, London. We have been asked to extend the invitation to the event to our students. (See USA Today article at http://content.usatoday.com/communities/gameon/post/2012/07/first-lady-calls-olympic-trip-a-dream-come-true/1#.UA7Bkr_K0xY)

While the school cannot provide transportation or chaperoning, we wanted to let you know about this exciting chance for your children to take part in the day's activities, and meet some professional and Olympic athletes.

Anyone interested in attending must arrive as a group for entry to Winfield House at 9:40 or 9:50 on Friday morning (exact time to be confirmed). It is anticipated that the event will end at approximately 1:30pm. There is no charge for this event, and each child will be given a "goody bag" to take home. Water and snacks only will be provided at the venue (no breakfast / lunch).

The Embassy requires a list of the participating children and their parents/chaperones in advance. The school can act as a focal point to facilitate communication of the list to the Embassy.
 If you would like your children to participate, please email Mrs X (school contact person's email here)  no later than 3:00pm tomorrow, Wednesday July 25th, with the subject line "Let's Move".Please provide:
1. the names and ages of the children (please note the allowed age range of 8 to 14)
2. the name of the parent/chaperone
3. a contact telephone number, and
4. permission to share email and telephone details with other participants

Our campus can also help to communicate the travel arrangements among the participating families. We would advise the use of public transport and the exchange of mobile phone numbers. We would also suggest that the children wear school logo or crest t-shirts for ease of identification.

Nickelodeon and NBC will be filming, and permission slips will be required to be signed by parents to allow use of any video or still images taken of their children during the event.

Apologies for the short notice, but we were only contacted by the Embassy today. I hope you are all enjoying the summer break and - at long last - the beautiful weather.

Nothing like last minute, I always say.  I actually think it's a pretty neat opportunity and might have thrown my hat into the ring if 1) my child was too young to understand what we signed on for with the exercising but no meal included in the gig 2) horrific commute into central London for this event the day before we have to fight the maddening crowds to attend an Olympics volleyball game and 3) the only daughter at home to attend this shindig is the one who prefers cake to crunches, carbs to carrots or celery and getting in front of the computer screen to watch her fave baking shows instead of getting out of the house to ride her bike.

And, of course, I voted for the other guy back in '08 and don't really want to be a part of this administration's propaganda machine.  I guess I'll just have to watch Michelle do her one-armed push ups while balancing a normal BMI American kid living in England on her back.


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