Sometimes no amount of preparation and organization can prepare you for that one seemingly insignificant event that comes out of nowhere and will ruin everything. This morning, Jonah's jacket was zipped, his lunch was in his backpack, and he was eager to get out to the bus stop, even though it was a little rainy. Getting Jonah on the bus is one of the most important events of every morning. It allows me to save gas by not driving him to school myself. And since I take care of another little boy Isaac's age, it also keeps me from having to herd two 5 year old's into the car for a 2 mile round trip drive that takes no less than 15 minutes.
I was particularly looking forward to Jonah getting on the bus because I hadn't yet had a chance to sit and eat my Bob's Red Mill 5 grain hot cereal with delicious dried blueberries and creamed honey.
I opened the front door, gave my I-love-you's and have-a-good-day's and Jonah was off. He did a gravity defying leap from the front porch over the 2 front steps and landed on his feet with just the tiniest bit too much forward momentum.
In literal slow motion he rocked forward from the jump onto his knees. His hands slowly moved out to stop his molasses-like fall, but it wasn't enough. The rest of his body continued in its trajectory and his little face just kissed the ground, all slow and cartoon-like.
Physically, Jonah was tip top; emotionally, he was a mess. He jumped up and ran into the house, holding back sobs, just as the bus pulled up to the bus stop.
I grabbed a towel, dried him off and hugged him. "You're OK." I reassured him over and over. "The bus is here and you can still make it."
"No I can't," Jonah said. "I'm wet."
What??
I toweled him off again and assured him he was not wet.
"Yes I am," he said, pointing to one dime-sized spot on his right pant leg and a pea-sized spot on his left pant leg.
I started to panic. My voice rose in pitch and volume. "Get on the bus, Jonah, it's right there. You are fine. Get on the bus, get on the bus, for the love of Pete, get on the bus!"
Several parents looked over as I grabbed Jonah's arm, fully prepared to drag him in my bare feet, through puddles and piles of dead leaves, out to the bus. He would not budge.
Finally, becoming increasingly aware of the scene I was creating and recognizing this was a battle I would not win, I went back inside. "Wait in your room until I've finished my cereal," I told Jonah, as calmly as I could, as the kid-filled bus pulled away. "I will drive you to school."
Sensitive, stubborn kid: 1
Mom: Who am I kidding. If I were keeping score, being a mom would just make no sense at all.
7 comments:
Do you know how many times I have sent my kids on the bus crying? Too many to count....benefits of living out in the country #1. Nobody to witness you forcing your children on the bus crying because of some insignificant mishap such as missed papers, wrong shoes, missing books, too tired etc...
Jonah has a stubborn streak and I know there was no way he would have gotten on that bus. I would have had to carry him kicking and screaming and walked into the bus myself to seat him. Then he would have gotten up and ran after me and off the bus again. He is just one stubborn kid. Then he would have been so embarrassed he wouldn't have gone to school. I decided to cut my losses and drive him to school.
The one thing I hate about the bus is that you have a 15-second window with no forgiveness or mercy. And it's completely up to the bus driver when that 15-second window of time has come. Every morning it's hurry up so we can wait.
And the kindergarten bus in the middle of the day really drives me crazy. The three of my children who have attended kindergarten all went in the morning, and I had the hardest time making it back by exactly 11:10 every single time--usually by 11:15 at the latest, but of course that was WAY too late. When I have had neighbors who were also picking up children at the same time, I relied on them heavily and wrote the bus driver a note saying those parents could get my children off the bus ANY TIME of that school year. And the one year that I didn't have a neighbor to back me up, I made a lot of trips to school and made friends with the bus driver, because his job was to drive back to school with the kids he couldn't drop off.
I have bus issues.
Boy, can I relate! I have a little stubborn one too. Gotta love that morning rush of getting the kids all out to the bus on time!
dying some more. your life musings just make me laugh out loud. maybe because all these scenes are so universally (painfully) familiar!
That is really funny! Yes, the school drop off sucks! We live in the only area where there is a bus, everyone else that goes to school has to be dropped off. BTW-your breakfast sounds yummy! What kind of honey?
It was just regular Fred Meyer brand whipped honey. Honey is expensive so I just buy the cheapest stuff. And the whipped honey doesn't seem to crystalize like the other stuff. Or maybe it's just that I use it so fast. I'm on to Bob's Red Mill 10 grain cereal now. It's got more of a creamy texture.
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