The school bus was late. Again.
This only happens when the regular school bus driver takes an absence, and a substitute driver takes over the route. Our busstop is the last stop before going to school, which makes time kind of tight if the bus were late. G's school bus usually picks him up around 11:49 a.m., and school starts at 12 noon with the pre-K students going to lunch for 30 minutes before the official class starts at 12:30 p.m. And that only leaves 11 minutes for the bus to arrive at school. So imagine how I feel when the bus is late for 40 minutes. I had to rush him to school by myself, and it really throws my schedule off.
And so each time when the bus does not come on time (give or take 10 minutes), I had to call the school district transportation department to track down the bus and to know the estimate time for the arrival and prepare to decide whether I should take G to school myself. It's quite annoying to tell you the truth. It's only a small class, G's pre-K class, and there are only six kids to be picked up by bus, all in the same neighborhood. So it kind of makes you wonder even with an inexperienced driver with unfamiliar route who encounters every red light in traffic, why would it take so much time to shuttle 6 little kids to school?
So today the bus was late again. And as I let my frustration show, G noticed. I am not an advocate of not letting children know what is going on around them. I am not afraid to show my justified anger as long as I know how to resolve that particular situation in a timly manner (in children's time). If things are out of my hands, I will extrapolate on how the system works and the disadvantages it currently has and what are the different ways we can do to change it. At times, I'd link the current circumstances to their own experiences to make it stick better in their mind. It's a part of learning how to deal in unexpected situations.
So G knew that the bus was late. He was getting impatient waiting outside and kept on asking when the bus will come. He was anxious to get to school. After I talked on the phone with the transportation administration, I was about to take him to the school because this time they weren't able to even tract the bus down.
"The bus is late today," he observed.
"Yes, the bus is late again," I agreed with his observation and expand more on how he feels. "Do you like it when the bus is late?"
"No, I'm late to school!" he exclaimed.
"Yeah, we don't like it when the bus comes late, right?"
"Yah."
"That's why we don't want to be late, either. Being on time is very important, right? Sometimes you take a long time to get ready and then you are late. You don't like it when the bus is late, so we will not be late, either."
G looked at me intently - that's his look when he is linking the two and two together and is processing this new piece of information.
And I know from now on, he'll mind being on time.
11.7.12
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