Bus Drama

I have to say first off that I love the school bus. I love that it comes at 7:55 this year and not 7:15 as it did last year. I especially love not loading up the car with all the babies (all two of them) just to get bigger kids to school.

My love affair with the school bus ended abruptly on Friday when Ellie for some inexplicable reason did not get on the bus, and then Adam for reasons slightly less mysterious did not get off. He wasn't listening and didn't hear the bus driver call his stop.

Ellie's explanation for why she didn't get on the bus was that she was 'confused.' Anyone who has had any in-depth conversations with Ellie knows that this an acknowledged mental state of hers, and so we will let that one go. So I get a phone call from the school that she is in the office and the buses have left, so off I go to go and pick her up.

I asked Aunt Stef to go be at the bus stop for when Adam got off the bus. I imagined (foolishly as it turns out) that he would be in a right state, worried sick about where Ellie was.

I drive over to the school and get Ellie. On my way back, Stef called and although it's illegal, I picked up. She said that the bus slowed down and did not stop, and Adam did not get off.

I made it back over to the bus stop in about one minute flat, and as soon as I was safely parked I called the school. They called the dispatcher, and told me that Adam was still on the bus and was being brought back to school. So I go haring off to school again, at great speed. I even made another illegal phone call to the office, to say be nice to him, he's probably worried sick about his sister and keep him calm until I get there.

I am within fifty yards of the school gates when I get another phone call from Stef to say that Adam has just walked in to her house.

It turned out that he was not worried about his sister at all. He didn't even know she wasn't on the bus until he missed his stop! How is this possible? We have had some serious conversations about this, and I have 'ruined his bus life' (his words) by insisting that from now on he has to sit next to her. The very nice bus driver went around the block again in order to drop him off, and the only thing that upset him was that I was not at home when he got there. Because I was driving half-way across town to go get him from school. Because that's where they told me he would be.

Why both Ellie and Adam had to have a bus issue on the same day is a mystery to me. Hopefully that's it for this year and we will not have to do this again. Ever!