Friday, September 4, 2009

Free At Last, Free At Last, Thank God Almighty, I'm Free At Last!

Ok, so by free, I mean free for like three hours a day. At the most. But still, this beats the snot out of last year when I had the wee ones on opposite schedules for preschool. Dumbest move I've ever made -- parents, please don't think it's a good idea to have one child in the am and one in the pm. It's not. Really not.

Mister Man started school last week, and Little Miss headed off this week.

Last Friday (because, ya know, school started on Monday), I got a call letting me know that her bus would be picking her up at 8:05am. I asked what time it would be dropping her off, as my mom needed to know. Uhh, they didn't know. They guesstimated that it would be 55 minutes after her school got out because the bus was picking her up 55 minutes before school started. Solid logic.

At 8:05, we were waiting outside, and I'd completed picture taking. Time out for pictures... Awww, isn't she cute?







At 8:20, the "big kid" bus came by, so I knew there was no excuse about traffic that would keep her bus from arriving. So I called the bus company. And got a busy signal.

*sigh*

I called a friend of mine who was possibly on our route to see if the bus had picked up her son yet. She was driving in, but yes, the bus had stopped by her house ten minutes before.

*sigh*

I finally got through to the bus company and "oh, no -- she's the fourth pickup, so 8:05 is the time the route starts, not when she'll be picked up. She'll be picked up much later. We don't know exactly when yet. But her bus is on its way and should be there any moment now."

Grrrr.

At 8:40, I called them again. The bus really is on its way. They promise. I mention that I have to start work at 9am and would have driven her in had I known that the bus would be this late.

At 8:57, the bus pulls into my driveway. Yes, school starts at 9am.

I ask the bus driver if this is the time I should expect (after three years of not once having either child get to school on time, I've had it. If the bus isn't going to pick her up on time, I'm making an issue of it again. I refuse to lose 15-20 minutes of class time on a daily basis). She says that no, she isn't actually the normal bus driver. She just had the route shoved into her hands at 7:55 and had to figure out where she was going after that. It should be more like 8:20 or 8:25.

Oh, and the Q-vest that I'd specifically talked to the bus company about on Friday to confirm that it would be there on Friday even though I'd marked it on the bus form? Yeah, it wasn't there. Fortunately, the bus driver had a spare harness, but it's too big for her and not what she was supposed to have. In fact, today is Day Five, and the drive her home bus driver still doesn't have one.





But on the plus side, I had a massage on Wednesday morning. Everyone should start ever day like that. Forever. And today, I had an almost two hour brunch with a friend of mine.

I'm liking this freedom. And I promise, next week I'm making it to the gym. At least once.

20 comments:

Laura September 5, 2009 at 12:17 AM  

She is the CUTEST doll I love her little smile...

WeaselMomma September 5, 2009 at 5:32 AM  

Ha! The bus company never got these right in the beginning of the year. I no longer have bus service and that is a blessing in disguise.
My plan is to go to the gym too, but it hasn't happened yet.

Anonymous September 5, 2009 at 9:08 AM  

She is adorable!

3 hours a day = Heaven

Cookie September 5, 2009 at 4:58 PM  

so cute!
we had bus trouble the first week of school too. Gotta love how predictable the bus trouble will be!
a message is a great idea :)

Debbie September 5, 2009 at 6:15 PM  

What cute photos!
And I would never like that opposite schedule.

Tara R. September 5, 2009 at 8:17 PM  

Too cute! Pretty in Pink..

Fortunately all the schools my kids attended were on the same route Hubs takes to get to work, he just dropped them off. They would ride the bus home, and I did make a few 'where are they?' calls myself.

Claudya Martinez September 5, 2009 at 9:33 PM  

3 glorious hours!

She's a cutie!!!

Anonymous September 5, 2009 at 9:50 PM  

OH MY LORD is she cute! I hope the bus thing gets worked out, and I am insanely jealous of your 3 hours to yourself! I am looking forward to next year when both Cooper and Maren will be in school for a couple hours each.

MaBunny September 6, 2009 at 7:42 AM  

awww, she looks so cute Michelle. I'm kind of laughing at the long sleeves though - here we are still in shorts !

Melisa Wells September 6, 2009 at 7:58 AM  

You might as well learn it on Year One: the bus is ALWAYS messed up at the beginning of the school year. ALWAYS. I can say "always" because I have a senior this year. Every stinkin' year, it takes about a week for the bus to get on a regular schedule. Just wait until the one day that it comes ten minutes earlier than you get to the bus stop, after being late for the two weeks prior. Ugh.

And that is why the 17yo is dying to get a car.

Thanks for the rant space! haha

S3XinthePantry September 6, 2009 at 6:10 PM  

She is sooo cute!!!
She seems to like the seatbelt vest even if it is the wrong size (!)
Glad you are getting out and and having fun with your free time!

septembermom September 6, 2009 at 8:55 PM  

I look forward to getting those 3 hours soon! She is truly a cutie pie:)

Sherry @ Lamp Unto My Feet September 7, 2009 at 7:17 AM  

She is adorable! Hope she has fun at school! :D

Pat September 7, 2009 at 11:07 AM  

What a little cutie pie she is! In the last photo she looks like she's about to do a parachute jump. I didn't know these harnesses were available for little tykes on big bussess--great idea!

Sorry about the late bus...maybe they'll get their act together soon.

Michelle September 7, 2009 at 9:29 PM  

Laura - Thank you! That's so sweet :)

WeaselMomma - Uhhh yeah. The gym. I'm figuring uhh shoot I already have plans all week this week. Maybe next week? Yeah. Next week. That's it. I'll see ya there ;)

Shelly - Ohhh isn't it though? I can only imagine next year -- if we end up at the same school where it would be all day for BOTH of them!

Cookie - The massage was wonderful. I've decided that everyone should start every day with one.

Debbie - Well some of us thought it would be better FOR THE KIDS to have a little separation. We were wrong. We were so wrong. And so stupid.

Tara - Nice! I love that he was able to drop them off. My husband is already at school teaching by the time we wake up though, so unfortunately, that doesn't work so well. Count your blessings!

Unknown Mami - Just wait. You'll get there, too!

Nichole - Well thank you! Those couple of hours really make a huge difference. I can only imagine what it will be like when I'm no longer working.

Marcy - Well you didn't see day 2 of school where she wore a jacket with the long sleeves, did you? Of course, it was 82 and gorgeous today!

Melisa - Oh no. This is different. This is year 4 of taking the bus to this preschool. This is year 4 of my children arriving late on a daily basis and it getting later and later as the school year goes on (special needs and at risk = classes grow throughout the year as kids turn 3 and screenings are held). This is not a week one issue. I'm just giving them a week to prove it's a fluke. 8:36 with one to two more kids to pick up and a 25 minute drive from my house tells me she's getting to school late now, and it's only going to get worse (based on experience).

S3XinthePantry - I'm hearing that a lot... and yes, she loves the harness. she feels like such a big kid!

Kelly - Next year for you, right? All four in school then... wow!

Sherry - Oh she loves it. She tells me all about the BOYS she plays with all day. A flirt already.

Pat - Yeah, that harness does look like a parachute jump. It's not the Q-vest she should have but was all the driver had on the bus. And the teacher told the driver that "she doesn't need one" - ummm hello? Who's the parent? And getting their act together? Ha! That would be a first. But I'm done with being patient... I want my class time.

Jenn M September 7, 2009 at 10:02 PM  

Now you tell me :)

It'll be a long year for me, I guess?

Glad you have some free time. Can't wait for that!

Michelle September 8, 2009 at 1:41 PM  

Jenn - Learn from my mistake! Request a switch! Don't do it! (See, you should have been reading me longer, as I complained about this a couple times last year!)

Pam September 8, 2009 at 3:59 PM  

The beginning of the school year is always a little dicey. Enjoy your 3 free hours every day. I so remember the freedom of that first year with both kids in school. (Mine are 17 and 14 now). What is a Q vest? This must be something new since my kids were little.

And thanks for stopping by my blog and leaving a comment. I appreciate it.

The818 September 8, 2009 at 8:13 PM  

She's adorable!

Michelle September 13, 2009 at 8:13 PM  

Pam - Sadly, it isn't just the beginning of the school year that's dicey for us. I'll adjust. The Q-vest is a restraint system that slips over the head after attaching to the seat behind that then buckles around the child to hold them in place. They use them a lot on the preschoolers who have special needs who can't -- or won't -- sit still to keep them in one place and safe. I use it for her as a safety measure if God forbid there were ever an accident. Since she's a good kid, I get some feedback from the bus company about how she doesn't really need it, but I insist on it.

The818 - Awww, thanks! She definitely has personality that comes through on the camera!

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