Every Wednesday is "early release" day at Elisabeth's school. (Is it me, or does 'early release' sound like a program that allows prison inmates to be released early?) That means I need to be at the bus stop at 1:28pm instead of the usual 2:40pm.Last Wednesday, we had a little incident involving a miscommunication from the school district which led to me being the last parent at the bus stop. The bus driver waited 10 minutes for me to come and pick Elisabeth up. In my defense, we had received a letter from the director of transportation the day before stating that, due to a route change, the bus would arrive at our bus stop at 2:01pm on Wednesdays. Turns out that they changed the arrival time (again) to 1:28pm without notifying parents, so I wasn't at the bus stop when the bus pulled up. Strike one (even if it wasn't my fault)!
Yesterday, Allison fell asleep around 11am and took a nice, long nap. Her first nap in months, actually. Somehow, that joyous occasion caused me to lose track of time and completely forget that it was Wednesday. Next thing I know, I saw one of my neighbors running toward our house (while carrying her 11-week old baby, no less). As she ran up our front steps and rang the doorbell, that is when it hit me: early release day! I threw open the door and my neighbor yelled, "It's early release day! The bus is waiting for you at the bus stop! They won't let Elisabeth off until you get there!" Strike two!
In our district, the bus drivers will not let the kindergartners off the bus unless an authorized adult is there to pick them up at the bus stop. If an adult doesn't show up to meet the child, the bus will return to school with the child.
I scooped Sleeping Beauty up, threw her in the wagon, and RAN as fast as I could to the bus stop. Allison screamed the whole way, as she didn't appreciate the rude awakening. (Can't blame her.) I got to the park just in time to see the bus driving off, presumably heading back to school. Elisabeth noticed me running down the street and started yelling at the bus driver to stop. Thankfully, she did stop and let Elisabeth get off the bus.
Elisabeth yelled at me, "Where have you been, mom?! Why do you always forget about early release day?" Yep, I deserved that.
The bus driver glared at me and gave me a cold reminder that the bus arrives at 1:28pm on Wednesdays. Yep, deserved that, too.
Fred sent me a text message saying, "So, how did you forget about her?" I wish I could answer that.
Then this morning, Elisabeth reminded me to pick her up after school. She added, "I don't think your brain is very big because you forgot to pick me up at the bus stop yesterday. But maybe today your brain will be fixed and you won't forget to pick me up." That comment made me laugh! Yes, I do agree that my brain needs to be fixed and re-programmed to remember Wednesdays!
So....that's my Mother of the Year story. I share this story not so you will all know what a tool I am for completely forgetting to meet my child at the bus stop, but so I can look back on it someday and laugh.
2 comments:
oh. my. god. this is TOO funny!! i'm in tears! at least you've made friends with the neighbors;) and no worries - i have a feeling many of your friends (myself included) will remember to remind you of your prestigious award:)
I'm glad we are able to provide you with entertainment ;) I think I actually got a standing ovation from my neighbors at the bus stop yesterday (early release day) because I actually remembered to show up! I was even EARLY! And the bus driver also looked pleasantly surprised to see me. Hopefully that means she's not mad at me anymore. But more importantly, hopefully it means my brain has been fixed! ;)
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