My 4 and 5 year olds are in love with the bus.
They frequently beg to ride the bus.
But I have a confession: I am scared to death of them.
I know the lady in charge of transportation in our county.
I know which bus driver my kids would have.
And I only live about 2 miles from each of their schools.
It’s not like they’d be on the bus for long or ride very far at all.
I should be ok with this, right?
But I have another confession: Picking them up every day is starting to wear me down.
Nine times out of ten I have to wake up Asa to go do pick ups.
And when I go to get Lydia, there isn’t a pick-up line
(At least not one that I am eligible to use)
And I have to get him out and take him in to get her.
After just being woken up, he’s usually not in the best of moods
And carrying him is like carrying a sack of potatoes-
That squirm.
So what’s holding me back?
Why do I not want them to ride the bus?
I don’t know.
I never rode the bus growing up
But a lot of kids ride the bus.
My fear?
It’s irrational.
And I know it.
If they ride the bus, I won’t see Lydia’s teacher every day.
Sure, she can write a note and put it in her folder…
But I won’t be getting those little updates that she tells me,
The ones that I’d otherwise not know because Lydia surely doesn’t mention any of it.
And when I’m waiting in car-rider line, I love watching Carter from a distance;
He doesn’t even know I’m watching.
And he looks so big and so little all at once…
And I…I…well, everyday…every.single.day. I love that moment.
If they ride the bus, we can still talk about our “3 favorite things”
(which is our routine and my tactic to get them to tell me about their day).
It’ll just be as we come into the house.
If they ride the bus, they will actually get home earlier than we do now.
(And I won’t be forced to get dressed every day if I don’t want to.)
(Wait. That’s probably not a good thing, is it?)
If they ride the bus, they will be happy.
Asa will be happy(or at least well-rested).
And I?
I’ll probably love it.
(Especially once the new baby gets here!)
And what’s to lose, right?
If I (or they) miss car-rider line too much, they can always go back to being pick-ups.
So what about you?
Do your kids ride the bus?
Why or why not?