The Wheels on the Bus...

My boys have been "car riders" since the dawn of time...or at least since the dawn of elementary school. I used to wake Carter up from his afternoon naps, so we could pick Alex up from school. Inconvenient? Most definitely, but well worth it...or so I believed. I have what some might describe as a bus phobia. Seriously. Every street smart morsel of information that I learned "before my time" was learned on the bus (or from my friend, Miki, but that's another story...).

However, this year I had to confront my phobia (please note that this is all about me...they are fine!) head on. The boys are at two different schools at opposite ends of the boulevard. I simply could not make pick-up without being late. Not to mention that it would take me about an hour and 15 minutes for the round trip. Crazy! I thought about letting Alex ride and continuing to pick Carter up for the remainder of elementary school, but he WANTED to ride the bus. Several of his buddies are on there. And let's be honest, he will probably be the one doing most of the corrupting...

This is a shot of Alex getting off the bus on his first day. Don't worry, we shot it from our garage with the telephoto lense. I highly recommend purchasing one for stalking your tweenager!

Please note the absence of Carter's "first ride" picture. It's missing because the bus driver rolled right through his bus stop (while I was waiting in the yard ready to snap a picture!) without letting my baby off. If only there was video of the panic that ensued. I was a true caricature of a hysterical mom. I got in the car to hunt down the bus while Russ started making phone calls to try to locate him (probably the more logical approach). Twenty minutes later the bus rolls back around and Carter hops off with a huge grin on his face. He was oblivious to the chaos! Turns out he was talking to one of his friends and didn't want to get off yet...claims he didn't hear his stop being called. He went on a little joyride around the lovely, scenic Maumelle. Give me strength! It took everything I had not to scream, "You scared me to death! I knew something like this would happen!" Instead, I just hugged him extra tight and told him he needed to pay more attention the next day. He did. The next day went off without a hitch...except I forgot my camera!