Monday, 30 April 2012

The wheels on the bus

Today was one of my biggest heart stopping moments since my twins started school - they caught the school bus home. There are no back to school tips to prepare you for the racing heart and emotions of cutting them loose.

I feel monumental mother guilt. Letting my boys catch the bus to school is not just to give me more time but rather them independence. I can't deny is a rite of passage that most farm kids enjoy.

I was watching the clock tick ...on my laptop from 3pm , counting down by the heartbeat , hoping they were on the bus after the bell went at 3.25pm.

It will save me driving 80km a day. Though they will just catch it home at the moment 4 days a week, otherwise in the morning it means leaving 1 hr earlier. Maybe they will catch it to school one day at week ...to be on time in the morning isn''t so easy.

It also makes for a long day when you are five and half ~ 8am to 4.15pm.

Fortunately , the bus stops directly out the front of our gate , an 800m+ walk {drive} to said 'gate'. It is too far away to see it , so I will wait with them in morning and for them in afternoon.

If the bus beats me is early in the afternoon they can safely start the dirt track road home.

I am so thankful we are the dead end of our road ; they will get on and off the same side of the road too.They have no roads to cross or I wouldn't have let them quite yet.

Being the last stop on the route they can't miss their stop.

I have been reinforcing these rules:
  1. The need to be on time ...no stopping to play on equipment or chasing friends.
  2. Never run to or from the bus ...so there are no face plant or gravel rash from the loose gravel and dirt driveway.
  3. Stand back from the road.
  4. Don't push or shove your brother especially
  5. Stay in your seat.
  6. Don't yell or shout or fight.
  7. Always obey the driver.
  8. Wait till the bus is fully stopped before getting off your seat and listen teacher calling the bus name to be ready to get on (It is very busy at our school with a dozen buses one after the other)
  9. Don't empty your bag on the bus ...and remember to check you haven't dropped anything.
  10. I am also going to write a big B on their hands the day they have to catch the bus, so the teachers sees it mainly - she will however walk them to the bus till she knows they are capable.
Do your kids catch a bus to school ? 
How did you feel the first time ?



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Posted by ♥.Trish.♥ Drumboys at 17:07

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Mum-me · 680 weeks ago

It is a big step, but if your boys are anything like my children they will just LOVE it! (Now we are in QLD, where there is no free bus transport, my younger girls feel quite cheated out of their bus rides!) I was very nervous the fist time my eldest caught the bus to school and then back home. I did the opposite to you and let her catch it in the morning first, because I figured there would be no way she could miss her 'stop' as it was the bus just for her school and everyone got off when it arrived. I was so glad that our stop on the home trip was right out the front of my parents' house. Then I could remind her that she had to get off at Nanna's house. There were still times when she got to chatting with friends and forgot to get off, though!
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Trish 114p · 680 weeks ago

They love it day #1 .
I heard that about Q - so grateful for NSW free transport system.
I'd be worried about the getting off otherwise too. Poor P what did she do when she missed her stop ?
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chicks4612 15p · 680 weeks ago

Luckily, again, the next stop was where her best friend got off the bus and those few times she did miss her stop I just started walking to the next one (800m up the very straight road) to find best friend, best friend's mum and Possum walking back towards me.

Glad your boys liked their bus rid, and hope you can feel very productive with you extra time.
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Trish · 680 weeks ago

It ended up that the peer support buddy took them to the bus , a very nice boy . He is on a different bus but will look at that they are catching it.
My recent post The wheels on the bus
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Melissa · 680 weeks ago

Wow, I feel for you. My little one is not yet 2 so I still have a while to go, but it already scares me! My thoughts are with you. You're right though, it will give them independence they cannot learn in books.
Melissa.
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1 reply · active 680 weeks ago
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trish · 680 weeks ago

Yes, I want them to have the independence most of all , they are very confident lads already. I know I will get used to it , the guilt and the racing heart.
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superrelish 23p · 680 weeks ago

Hooray for you and letting the boys have their independence. I was so jealous of class-mates that caught the bus to school. That was until secondary school when my bus left at 7.30 and didn't get home till 5. I am thankful that my guys can walk too and from school and it only takes them 15 minutes if they don't get distracted by climbing trees or chatting to neighbours.
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1 reply · active 680 weeks ago
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Trish · 680 weeks ago

Thanks Del , it is a small step really but they loved it .
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Claireyhewitt · 680 weeks ago

I was a farm kid so I caught the Bus.

It was great. But I would still be a stress head too if I was you. No reason to be, it is just what farm kids do.
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Trish · 680 weeks ago

Yes , I will always be a stress head was with my older son too. Once I wasn't sure he was on it (stop was in side street but I could see him over the fence) he was 11 , I turned my back for 15 secs , saw kids getting on the bus but not him I thought. I followed the bus all the route to school , not game to stop it and waited till I saw him get off.
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heyhoewarren 73p · 680 weeks ago

WOW!! 80km! That's a huge drive every day.
The first time my kids caught the bus home, I watched them get on the bus at school, drove home, then waited at the bus stop for them to get off. I was so relieved to see that bus come up over the hill and to see their smiling faces in the front seat. There's only one time I've been particularly stressed about it...hubs forgot to tell me that his parents were picking them up from school, so I was waiting at the bus stop for them, but they didn't get off!! I was in tears!!! Hubby coped a mouthful from me when I rang him in a panic.
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Ai Sakura · 680 weeks ago

My girl doesn't take the school bus ( none available actually) and I never sat in one either but I can imagine the suspense of waiting for your young ones when they take it! Such a great learning experience for them as ou said though..
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Jen · 680 weeks ago

I used to catch the yellow bus to school from when I was 5 years old. For some reason I ended up sitting with the high school kids who used to tease me. But I got over that, got older and became the high school kid who had their own seat. They'll be right. They might miss it in the morning, but they'll get on it after school. It's hard letting go, but they'll love the independence.
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Leimay · 680 weeks ago

My 6 year old does the 8am bus to school and arrives at the bus stop at home around 4ish. Its a big day but she loves the independence and even more so now she doesn't have her brother with her like last year (he is on a different bus for high school now) I drove her every day until this term when i realised it just isn't possible with 4 children at 3 different school (1 at high, 1 at primary, 1 at preschool and 1 at home) to get them all there on time and still have my sanity, now it is drop the preschooler off on his days and the other two catch their busses from right out the front of the preschool so i can stay and watch them all on their way.
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Amanda · 680 weeks ago

Thats a fantastic experience for your boys. I'm sure they love it and as you said, it teaches them independence, and to be brave. I can imagine how you must have felt though and I'm sure I would be the same :).
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Rachel · 680 weeks ago

I drive my girls, 6 & 8. We aren't as lucky as you. Too many roads, bus stops, etc. Plus I am a control freak and need the teachers to see my face often enough so they know I am watching them. :) Rachel x
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