from school to home, 1 mile.

So, first of all let me just state that it is 5 am and I've been up 2 hours AND I even took a ride on the blue wave (tylenol pm) last night. Beyond irritating.

The first day of school was great. The kids were excited to go to their new school and I was ecstatic that their new school is only a mile away. Last November, we moved from the center of Edmond and I absolutely loved their teachers, so I choose to drive them back and forth across town. I averaged over 60 miles per day. Needless to say, I was ready for this year to start knowing that I didn't have to be a kid taxi.

I was really hoping that the bus would come to our house despite it only being a literal mile. They have a law on that, you know. I think you have to be 1.8 miles, but the bus dude said that they don't follow that, so I crossed my fingers that I would receive a call telling me that my kids would be bus riders.

I didn't get the call by the end of the first day, so I went to pick them up. I decided to go about 15 minutes early to try to avoid a little of the chaos. Yeah right. Because they don't have a side entrance from our neighborhood, I had to go to the front of the school. I needed to turn left but I couldn't. A u-turn seemed out of the question as well since it is a busy narrow 2-lane street. There were cars lined up going the opposite direction, but I couldn't tell if they were in line for the school as there was a man (dressed in a white polo and khakis) standing in the middle of the road attempting to help with traffic. I slowly drive up to him with my left blinker and mouthing to him that I needed to get into the line. Apparently he is a horrible mouth reader (Sidenote: I'm pretty dadgum good at it, so be careful what you say around me!!!) and thought that I wanted to turn left into the parking lot. I made a u-turn using the parking lot and got in line.

Wrong. I need to come up with a name for him. Let's see.... Wild Bill. So Wild Bill came up to me and was like "Ma'am you need to move. You can't cut." It was so bizarre to hear a 50+ year old man griping about cutting. I'm not sure I've said that since the water fountain in 4th grade.

"I couldn't turn left and I didn't think that I could make a u-turn."

"Well, you need to get to the back of the line. There is no cutting."

There it was again, so I responded with a "and you are?"
My mouth, I swear. Things pop out without me realizing where they are going.

"I work for Deer Creek."

He didn't have on any official nametag or shirt or anything, so how was I supposed to know?

"Well, good. You don't bus to us and we live a mile away. There is no side entrance, no left turn lane, and no way to make a u-turn. How am I supposed to get to the school that is so close and convenient to my house? Drive 3 miles out of the way?"

"I don't know how you are going to get there, but you need to get to the back of the line."

GRRR. So, I began the process of a massive u-turn and I stop in the middle of the road.

"Uh, sir, where is the line?"

"It is right after that car."

That would be the car directly behind me to which I responded out of the open window,
"HAHAHA!! What a jerk!!!"

So, the car moved into my spot and I moved into his. About this time, Wild Bill got on his phone. Later a sheriff pulled up. I figure Wild Bill didn't think that I would be the last psycho mom of the day. He needed backup. What is up with men and their backup lately?

I called the bus people the second day and I was informed that bus 7 would be picking up the kids at 8:19 and bringing them home at 3:50. YEAH! I picked them up since they didn't know to get on the bus and I decided to just park and get out of the car. I didn't want to deal with Wild Bill. I was home by 3:50 and everything was great.

The third day, we got up early and went to the corner since the bus was to come at 8:19. The corner is not quite at the end of our cul-de-sac, so the kids have to stand on the empty lot or the street as there are not sidewalks yet. It was raining ridiculously, but the kids were dying to take the bus. So, I drove them to the corner and we sat in the car and waited...and waited...and waited. Finally at 8:37, I bore the bad news that I would have to drive them, since school starts at 8:45. With sobbing and whining behind me, I start to move the car only to see the bus coming. So, they got on the bus for the first time. EXCITING!!

What is crazy to me is that we were not the last stop. Apparently they went to 2 more neighborhoods. What sense does that make?

Anyway, I had a lovely day full of nothingness and at 3:45, I set up my perch in the front room, angling the chair just right to see out of the window to the corner. No bus. No bus. No bus. So I started thinking. (I hate when I do that. My thinking also gets me in trouble.) I just knew that the kids had forgotten to get on the bus and were standing out front waiting for me. I got into the car and drove the one mile to the school. I didn't see them, but I did see bus 7. It was not loaded or even loading. The time was 4:05. Okay, so I think that they were off on their 3:50 estimated arrival time. I drove back home and got back into my perch.

After looking out of the window every 14 seconds and looking at fb every 10 seconds, I saw the bus. It was 5:00. I went outside to try to help the kids get across the street. BTW, I'm not a paranoid mom, they really don't pay attention a lot, so I have to help them out.

But no kids get out and the bus keeps moving. It goes up to the next cul-de-sac and I think, "Do I have to go get them?"

Again, my kids do not get out. The bus leaves. WHAT IN THE WORLD? WHERE ARE MY KIDS?????

I start freaking out and wonder if I am going to have to chase down a bus. About that time, it pulls up to the corner for the second time, and there are my babies!
They loved riding the bus and want to do it every day, but I'm not sure my heart can take it. I'm not sure why it took them 1 hour and 15 minutes to get from school to home as it is only 1 mile.
Ridiculous.

I haven't decided what tomorrow looks like yet. Maybe I'll just call the bus and get all Sha-Mandy on them! :)