The Worst Mommy at the Bus Stop

Mood: Totally chill – it’s been an excellent Saturday morning

Listening to: Well, not much.

I am not a time management super hero. There’s definitely an argument that could be put for me totally sucking at time management. I do usually manage to be somewhere if I need to though.

My youngest comes home on the bust around noon. I am expected to be at the bus stop to collect her, which is totally logical because we can’t have 4 year olds wandering around by themselves now, can we? If the bus driver/assistants can’t find a parent, they bring the kid back to school. Her teacher informed us that the bus leaves the school at 11:30. Now I’ve driven to that school more times than I can remember, and it NEVER takes less than 40 minutes to get there in a car. A car that can move in and out of traffic much easier than a gigantic school bus. The first day was kosher. I went at 12, the bus showed up at 12:15 as expected. The next day, I went at 12 and the bus was already there…waiting for me to collect my daughter. I asked all the other moms there if I was wrong about the time the bus would come. They told me that they had been asked to be at the bus stop by 11:45. I’m not really sure who told them this, but such is the way with the school my daughters attend. The next day, I went out at 11:30 just to be on the safe side. The bus again showed up at 12:15. The next two days I came at 11:45 and the bus came at 12 – all good. Yesterday, I came at 11:50 and the bus was there again, waiting for me. Not waiting for 15 minutes types mind you, the other parents were just wandering off. The bus driver got rather pissy with me and told me I had to be on time. Um, how can I be on time when you come a different time every.single.day? Of course the driver only speaks Kanada, the local language, so my asking him that was totally ineffective and a lost cause.

To top it all off, my housekeeper Indira has started coming early lately. When we hired her, we asked her to come at 10:30. The time slowly crept up to 12:30, and now it has come back to 10:30. I have no idea why, let’s just not go there – it will only confuse me more. There’s just no way she can be done before 12. I absolutely hate leaving her alone in the house, especially if I’m going to have to sit at the bus stop for a half an hour until 12:15. She doesn’t like leaving unless I’m home, so I find her sitting there waiting for me to come back.

I’m not really sure how this works. Is it reasonable to expect me to sit at the bus stop for a half an hour if the bus is late just so I will be there if it’s early? I’m not even sure of the physics of the bus leaving the school at 11:30 and arriving at my house at 11:45. Seems rather hoodoo-ish to me. I guess I don’t have much choice but to suck it up and sit there for a half an hour. I definitely don’t want to piss off the bus driver and have him bring my daughter back to school if I’m not there the minute he pulls up. I don’t have a car and it would be a HUGE hassle to go and get her.   Ugh. I hate feeling like the mom at the bus stop that never has her act together and can’t manage to get the schedule down.

Becky

Heartbreaking and Exciting, All in the Same Breath

Listening to: Angel  - Aerosmith

Mood: Optimistic

Thanks to our moving half way around the globe, our daughters had almost a full year without any institutionalized schooling.  There were many successful and even more unsuccessful attempts to teach them things at home too. All in all, it has been a LOT of togetherness time for the girls and me. I both love it and get tired of it.

The time has come for them to once again hop on board the white and green school bus (we don’t have yellow ones here) and leave for the day. Well, at least my oldest will leave for the day, the youngest will only be gone a half day. This was recent and largely unwelcome news for me. Not only was my first in school all day by this age, I really feel like my younger one could do with some independent time from me and her sister so she can make her own friends and develop her own personality.

There has been much talk lately about whether or not I should get a job when the kids are in school full time and if that job should be me starting a business. I was generally very excited about this new phase of life. Having my youngest in school only half time pretty much curtails that all together. Between finding a job, transportation, care for them after school, there really isn’t much sense to be had out of this.

My eldest daughter spent last night fretting and repeating that she was scared. Her first 3 months in an Indian school were indeed rough for her, but she made friends and did fine in school. I reminded her gently, but she will still have to see for herself that she can do it and will be fine.

My youngest is also apprehensive, but I think it’s more to do with the stories her sister told her than anything else. It’s probably intimidating for her to have to go to her own classroom also. My girls usually are found together. They are sisters after all.

I have a 1 week reprieve before I have to put the youngest on the bus also as the younger ones start 1 week later. I’m not a crier. I won’t get emotional watching them both get on the bus. But I know the house will be very empty, and very, very quiet. I look forward to having a small chunk of time for myself for the first time in almost 8 years, yet I still worry that things will be hard for them. Will they enjoy their class? Will the teacher be nice? Will my youngest get lost in the school? I know these are all silly worries and that the girls will be fine, but it’s still hard not to worry.

Their time as babies is over. It’s both exhilarating to see them grow and thrive and heartbreaking that I will never hold their warm, squishy little bald heads up under my chin as I rock them to sleep.

My apologies for getting a bit maudlin here at the end. I keep waiting for it to get easier that they are growing up, but it never does.

Becky