The Bus

Today, my son Wyatt starts kindergarten, which is no big deal really. He dismisses our attempts to rehearse math exercises and phonetics.  He acts annoyed by our constant reminders of his last name and street address. And don't even try to advise him to listen to his teacher. He's got it down. And we believe him.

It's not the rite of passage that's got us flustered.

It's the bus ride.

Long ago, Ainsley and I decided that our children wouldn't ride buses. We remember the long, tortuous rides home from our parochial schools, which added hours onto the school day. We remember the hordes of hooligans in the back seats who smuggled cigarettes on-board and shouted orchestrated profanities when the bus wheels trounced a speed bump or an unexpected curb.

But he really wants to ride it. Already at five, he doesn't want to be seen escorted into the building by his mother. And at the mere suggestion of waving back on his first ride to school, he muttered, "Well, I'll duck under the window then."

So we're going to give it a shot. The camera's charged. The book-bag is stocked. We've even spoken with the driver tonight to understand the process stop-by-stop. So yes, I think we're a go with the bus ride.

And besides, it's only 12 minutes long.

Comments

[Jim F.]

Just put my son on the bus for the first time. He is going in the second grade and he has always rode with me because of being a Pastor at the church where he went. Now he is riding the bus and off to public school. He is gonna have an awesome day!nn

[gretchen]

We had the same fears. It only took 3 days of riding the bus for our innocent little girl to come home saying, "Mommy, there was a boy that said the S-word on the bus!". My heart dropped. "Stupid?", I asked, hopefully....she shook her head no.

Eyes wide as saucers, she whispered "he said 'Shut up'"!

[Ron Edmondson]

Great times Ben! Enjoy it now. Sunday we did the song "You're Gonna Miss This". I wasn't familiar with it (since I don't listen to a lot of country), but since then I've put it on my iPod. As a brand new empty nester, let me assure you these times will pass too fast. I know you hear it all the time, but I wish someone would have SCREAMED it at me! Love the moment. (I feel my blog lately has become a sappy parent festival!)

From what I've observed of you personally, I would say you are probably a great dad!

Ron Edmondson
http://www.RonEdmondson.com

[Everett Bracken]

We had those same first with our first child, and she has never ridden the bus. But our second, a boy, loves the bus ride! he has seen and heard some things we would prefer he not have, but it's all a part of growing up in our crazy world. in some ways, this year has been worse, because he entered middle school. the 8th graders think it is their right to pick on the 6th graders, but he has handled it well so far.

[Terrace Crawford]

But school buses are cool. Just like fire trucks. Everybody knows that. =)

btw - I hated riding the bus too.

--Terrace Crawford
www.terracecrawford.com
www.twitter.com/terracecrawford

[Ben Arment]

i confess we followed the bus all the way to the school =)