A School Bus Mishap

Every afternoon, Gabe, Luke and I take a little walk down to the bus stop to wait for Sam to come home. Two times this week, as we were walking out the front door to go to the stop, Sam was already walking up to the house. The bus has been dropping them off a few minutes earlier and he was very proud of the fact that he walked home without me. Well, yesterday, I thought I'd just wait on the front porch for him (where I can see the bus stop), I figured he'd think it was cool that I knew that he didn't need me to walk him home. Gabe was playing in the front yard, Luke was in his excersaucer in the living room and I was on the porch. I heard the bus, then saw it stop at our stop. I saw B get out...then S...then R...then a few others...then...the bus drove off...no Sam...PANIC. I yelled at Gabe to get in the car, grabbed Luke and drove off (with Luke in my lap, forget car seats...where was my baby???) chasing after that bus. I knew that he had to be on it, if he wasn't, I would have heard from the school. I tracked the bus down to the back of the neighborhood, pulled up behind it and waited for it to make another stop. When it did, I jumped out of the car, with Luke, and ran onto the bus. There was Sam, sitting in the front seat, looking at me like I was crazy! He didn't even know anything was wrong. The bus driver felt terrible and apologized profusely. I was so freaked out, I really had to tone down my reaction with Sam, especially when I realized he didn't even know what the heck was going on. In the mornings, we are one of the first stops, then he goes through the whole neighborhood and back out to school, so as we were driving back to the house, Sam says "Oh, this is the way I go to school on the bus in the mornings, huh." Yeah. Huh.

I realized later that the girls next door weren't on the bus that afternoon, so I think that's what threw him off. He's got a little crush on one of them, so he always watches for her and basically follows her wherever she goes. She wasn't on the bus, so he didn't know what to do with himself. Huh.

This afternoon, when I asked him how he knew to get off the bus, he told me Bus Driver Mike told him "Sam this is your stop". I think Bus Driver Mike will say that to him every day from now on!

I tell you what, I never expected my little Kindergartner to grow up and learn so much in a matter of 3 weeks. He is different...older...a kid. He can write stuff...on paper...words and stuff. He can even spell stuff. He knows stuff. I mean, I knew they would be teaching him, but to witness first hand, him learning, is such a privilege. It's so exciting, to see him excited that he knows stuff. He is so sweet. He has such a sweet little spirit. He is smart, observant. He is turning into a rule follower (not really my rules, but school rules). He is quiet, yet he loves talking. He is brave. He faces new challenges head on with such calmness and confidence.

He still hold my hand when we walk to the bus stop.